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rosyfingereddawnn · 3 years

Text

only the black rose (chapter 5)

pairing: jimmy page x layla porter (oc)

warnings: talks of parental abandonment, off-scene injury, drug use (legal!), fluff, and me waxing poetic about one of my favourite books. and more fluff.

words: 3.1k

summary: in the blink of an eye, it’s 1975 and layla’s suddenly joining led zeppelin for their north american tour. throughout the chaos, the band take a liking to her, she builds friendships with the boys, and love blossoms. but all good things must come to an end.

author’s note: this one wrote itself. i expected to take longer with it cause of this. this is the start of the Chaos seen in the 1975 North American tour, so hold onto your hats and enjoy! congrats! you’ve unlocked layla’s tragic backstory! unbeta’d as always, and here’s the link to the playlist :)

masterlist

playlist

chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

----------

Soon enough, the band make their way home, basking in the golden glow of a couple of excellent shows. It’s only a matter of days until the start of the North American tour, and the excitement is palpable. The boys find themselves at the studio, running through some last-minute tour details, accompanied by a certain brunette firecracker, who sits reading comfortably in the lobby.

Layla, sitting on a luxurious couch just outside of the meeting room, is drowning in a hardcover book, consuming every word at a ravenous pace. The sound of pages flipping periodically is accompanied by the light din of voices detailing the upcoming tour. Lost in the story in front of her, she is surprised when she hears a person clearing their throat, seemingly right in front of her. Looking up, she spots the secretary of Swan Song Records, a woman with glasses and long brown hair ran through with gray, pinned up in a low bun. Light freckles dusted her cheeks. Judging by the crow’s feet at the corners of her hazel eyes, the secretary had to have been older than Layla, perhaps around 50, though her bright smile gave the impression of youth.

“Sorry to interrupt, Miss… I just couldn’t help but notice the book you were reading. I don’t see many fans of the classics around here, especially ones so young.”

Recovering from the shock of being ripped out of the hypnotising story she was wrapped up in, Layla gestures to the seat next to her. With a bright smile, the secretary smoothes down her pencil skirt, and sits down.

“My mother was a literature buff, and it seems she’s passed that down to me! My name’s Layla. You’re Evelyn, right?”

“Y-Yes, I am! How do you…”

“Well, I had to put a name to the lovely secretary that gives me a smile whenever I see her. Makes my day, if I’m being honest.”

“You’re too sweet, darling,” Evelyn says, lips turning up warmly, eyes dancing with joy. “If I may, what are your thoughts on the book? It’s a personal favourite of mine, and it’s always nice to hear new opinions.”

“Well,” Layla starts, lighting up as she speaks. “Wilde’s language paints such a beautiful, vivid picture, and the characters are so interesting, even if they aren’t morally likeable, most of the time. They make mistakes… Many mistakes… but we sympathize with them.”

At this, Layla cups her hand around her mouth, whispering to Evelyn mischievously, as if what she was about to say was the world’s most important secret.

“It’s a favourite of mine too.”

The two women laugh, Evelyn’s hand falling across Layla’s arm, a comforting, grounding weight. Evelyn, with a warm smile gracing her face, crow’s feet as prominent as ever, sends a pang of longing into Layla’s heart. Not for love, but for her old life. Her friends worried out of their minds over her disappearance; her mother, left alone not once, but twice. Her father had left when she was a child, and it had been her and her mother ever since. Layla learned to put up walls, so that she’d never be hurt like that again. They all leave in the end. It’s better that way. Better not to get attached. Better not to get hurt.

“That’s a lovely interpretation, Layla. You know,” Evelyn says, interrupting Layla’s train of thought. “For someone so young, you have an old soul. Wise beyond your years, for sure.”

“You have no idea…”

“Well, I must get to work, darling,” Evelyn claps her hands together, and stands up, resting a hand on Layla’s arm once more. “I’d love to chat again, though. Such refreshing opinions from such a young woman. I’ll let you get back to your book.”

“I would love to! We’ll make plans soon, I promise. Have a wonderful day, Evelyn!” With that, Layla opens the novel, and is taken once again by the current of the story. Minutes pass, until Layla is interrupted once more, this time by a soft press of lips against the crown of her head.

“Everything alright, Layla?”

“Of course, Jim,” Layla says, reaching out to grasp Jimmy’s hand in return. “How did the meeting go?”

“Well, you were right outside the door, I’m surprised you didn’t eavesdrop,” He takes a seat beside her, and reaches down to tap at the book still nestled in Layla’s hand, her finger keeping the page. “You were too engrossed in this, I bet. What are you reading anyways?”

Layla lifts the book to show the cover, which is a slightly worn navy blue, with golden accents in the form of small droplets. In metallic lettering, read ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’.

“Oscar Wilde, hey? Wouldn’t have pegged you for a lover of the classics.”

“I spent my teenage years with Austen and Dickens, after all.”

“I didn’t think you were that old.”

Layla rolls her eyes, a fond look upon her features. Smiling at the man in front of her, she puts a hand to his cheek.

“Yeah, I’m a real cradle-robber.”

“Just make sure my mum doesn’t hear about this relationship: she’ll have a fit.”

“I’ll be careful, angel,” Layla laughs, putting a pensive finger to her chin. “Hey, Jimmy? Do you have a good relationship with your parents?” Jimmy smiles wide at the question and nods, dark curls bobbing at the movement. He absentmindedly takes Layla’s hand in his, rubbing his thumb in soft circles across her wrist.

“My parents… They’ve always been very supportive of me in every way, and I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to find a way to thank them,” Jimmy squeezes her hand briefly, meeting her eyes. “You know, I bet they’d love you.”

“Do you really think so?” Layla’s cheeks grow warm, and her lips tilt upwards in a smile that is uncharacteristically shy.

“Of course I do, petal,” Jimmy says, pushing a fallen lock of hair behind Layla’s ear, his touch featherlight. “How about you? What are your parents like?”

“Well… My dad… He left us when I was young, so it’s been me and my mom ever since,” This is marked with a moment of silence, and Layla’s eyes meet her shoes, pointedly not looking at Jimmy. “My mom’s probably the strongest person I’ve ever met, and I truly can’t thank her enough for everything she’s done for me. She’s my best friend.”

The silence continues, until Layla feels a calloused finger at her jaw, lifting her chin. Finally flicking her eyes up to gaze at the guitarist, she’s shocked by the concern and sadness she sees in those emerald green eyes.

“Petal, I…”

“Jim, it’s fine. It—”

“It’s not fine, Layla. It’s not. I’m so sorry, you didn’t deserve that. Either of you.” Jimmy pulls her into a tight hug, long arms wrapping around her, making her feel safe. They stay like this for what feels like hours, breaking apart slowly.

“Jimmy, I… Thank you.”

“Of course. Now, how about you read me some of that book of yours?”

Layla laughs brightly, albeit a little watery, and smiles at Jimmy, eyes shining with gratitude. Shuffling, she positions herself in his lap, legs hanging off the end of the couch as his arm comes to rest across her back, holding her steady against his chest. She opens the book, dog-earing the corner of the page she was reading, before flipping back to the start.

“Petal, as much as I like this, I thought we were gonna take it slow? I don’t think public places are the best idea to… Well…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jimmy,” Layla says, smirk gracing her face as she speaks. “You just make a very comfortable chair.”

Jimmy’s laugh is music to her ears, and she presses a light kiss to his cheek. Focusing on the book in her hand, she begins to read:

“The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.”

----------

‘Was it all true? Had the portrait really changed? Or had it been simply his own imagination that had made him see a look of evil where there had been a look of joy?’

The next day had arrived, and Layla sits at her kitchen table, enraptured once again by the writings of Oscar Wilde. The words on the page enchant her, and she has no desire to put the novel down anytime soon. She’d have to tell Evelyn all about it, the next time she sees her.

‘Surely a painted canvas could not alter? The thing was absurd. It would serve as a tale to tell Basil some day. It would make him smile. And, yet, how vivid was his recollection—’

A shrill ringing pulls her out of the carefully crafted narrative of Dorian Gray. Layla huffs, annoyed at the intrusion, and moves to pick up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Layla! Hi, good to hear from you, hope you’re having a great day so far! Lovely weather we’re having, hey?” The slightly nasal voice of one Robert Plant, crackles through the phone, and Layla sighs at his exuberance.

“Robert, hey. What is it?”

“Uh… Please don’t freak out. It’s really not that bad, and everyone is… mostly… fine?”

“Rob—”

This is followed by a noise in the background, a sort of crackle, as if Robert had shifted the phone to his other hand. Layla can hear the way his breath picks up, the way panic seeps into his voice. “Just a heads up that we’ll be at your place in about… 10 minutes! See you then!”

“What is going on? I was reading, I’m really not in the mood for—”

Another crackle, and a sigh from Robert’s end of the line. Layla runs a hand through her hair, biting her lip in an attempt to quell the panic rising in her throat.

“Promise me you won’t freak out, little dove.”

Layla exhales sharply through her nose, unimpressed at the plea of the man on the other line. Coiling the telephone cord around her finger to calm her nerves, she responds.

“Fine, I’m not gonna freak out. Now, tell me what happened.”

“Well… Um… Jimmy, well, he kinda… got his… finger slammed in a train door?”

“...”

“Layla? Are you still there?”

“How?!”

“I told you not to freak out…”

“Robert!” Layla exclaims, concern painted clearly on her flushed face.

“Okay, okay, he told us he was holding the door open for someone on the way to Swan Song, and well… You know the rest.”

“Is he going to be okay?”

Another sigh sounds from the other line, and Layla waits in anticipation for his response, growing anxious with each passing moment. Finally, she hears the man’s response, and deflates with relief, sinking into the chair beside her.

“He should be fine. Like I said before, we’re gonna come get you right away. He’ll be okay, Layla.”

“Okay…Robert?”

“Yes, little dove?

“Thank you.”

“Of course,” Robert chuckles lightly, bringing a smile to Layla’s face, the undercurrent of anxiety still coursing through her. She thinks it will stay that way, until she sees Jimmy, makes sure he’s okay. “We’ll be there in 10 minutes. Sit tight, Layla.”

Layla sits at the kitchen table, biting her thumbnail, mind elsewhere, until she hears the telltale sound of a car pulling up, engine cutting out. Flying out the door, She spots Jonesy in the driver’s seat, Bonzo next to him, with Robert in the back. Opening the door, she sits next to the blond, and he gazes over at her, putting a hand to her shoulder. Sympathy flashes across his face as he takes in the shocked look Layla’s sporting.

“He’ll be okay, Layla. He will.”

“Robert, I… Jonesy, please, just drive?”

“Right.”

The engine rumbles to life, and they’re off, no doubt speeding to whatever hospital Jimmy’s holed up in. Layla lets her thoughts drift to Jimmy. She wonders how he’s doing, if he’s in any pain, if they’re treating him well. She’s distracted enough that she barely feels Robert’s hand, warm and comforting, on her knee. Layla is snapped out of her thoughts by a particularly sharp turn, and she looks up at Robert, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Rob… What if he’s… not okay? It was his finger. That means that he might not be able to play, if it’s bad enough,” She stammers, eyes frantic in their search of the blond’s face. “His guitar is his life, and—”

“Layla, calm down. It’ll be okay. It won’t do us any good to think like that.” Robert leans over, throwing his arm around her shoulder as best he could in the cramped car. To his surprise, she leans into him, resting her head on his shoulder. Layla unconsciously brings a hand up to bite her thumbnail, and catching the action, Robert places his hand on hers, pushing it back down to rest in her lap. They stay that way until the car rolls to a stop in the hospital parking lot. Layla lifts her head from Robert’s shoulder with breakneck speed, scrambling out of the car.

“Layla, wait!” Jonesy calls out, running after the woman, who dashes through the door. Robert and Bonzo catch up, just as Layla reaches the front desk, panting from exertion. The nurse on shift looks at her, eyes wide, shocked at the display.

“Excuse me, love,” Bonzo says, tucking Layla under his arm as he speaks to the nurse. “We’re looking for James Page? He was brought in for a fractured finger, I believe?”

“...Yes, right. What is your relationship with the patient?”

“We’re his bandmates, we can call our manager if you need proof. Please, we just need to see if he’s okay.”

The nurse eyes the group dubiously, and grabs the chart sitting next to her, looking through it. Glancing at the group again, she points behind them, to a room packed with seats, posters and pamphlets lining the walls.

“It seems that Mr. Page is still with the doctor getting X-rayed, so I’m going to need you to take a seat in the waiting area. Give that manager of yours a call, and we’ll see what we can do for you.”

“Thank you, love.” Bonzo says, as he herds the group over to the soft, patterned armchairs, plopping down with a sigh. Jonesy excuses himself to make a phone call to Peter, the others left waiting for news that won’t come fast enough.

Jimmy has to be okay. He has to.

----------

“For James Page?” The nurse’s voice rings out across the waiting area, and the group shoot up from their seats, stiff backs groaning in protest. “Follow me.”

The nurse leads them through a labyrinth of hallways, stopping finally at a room with a large 164 pasted on the closed door. Through the window looking into the room, Layla spots Jimmy asleep under the covers, his hands atop the sheets, resting on his stomach. He looks peaceful, she thinks, like he’s devoid of pain. If she couldn’t see the injured hand at all, she’d have thought he was perfectly fine.

The group finally walk into the room, the sharp smell of antiseptic burning their nostrils. Hearing the click of the door opening, Jimmy opens his eyes, pupils blown wide. His irises are almost black, and he sends them a dopey smile, a giggle bursting out.

“Hey, guys. Fancy seeing you all here.” Jimmy slurs, laughing harder now, as though he had told the most hilarious joke in the world. The boys join in, amused by the antics of their guitarist. Layla hangs back, staring at Jimmy, concern clear on her face. She had spotted the injured finger on the way in, which was already bruised a deep purple, the fingernail completely blackened.

“They give you the good stuff, Pagey?”

“You know it, Jonesy.” Jimmy shoots the bassist a sloppy wink, and the group erupts into soft laughter once more. Taking a dazed glance around the room, the raven-haired man pouts, completely endearing in his drugged state. “Hey… where’s Layla?”

Peter, who had been standing next to the bed, moves aside, and glassy green met warm brown. The guitarist smiles softly, relaxing back into the pillows. He sticks out his uninjured hand, and she walks closer to take it. Never lessening her grip, Layla threads the fingers of her free hand through Jimmy’s messy curls, and looks down at him fondly.

“How’re you doing, champ?”

“Good, now that you’re here. I would kiss you right now… if I wasn’t seeing two of you.”

“They must have him on the really good stuff…” Layla throws over her shoulder, looking back at the injured guitarist. He’s looking up at her with unabashed affection, and she can’t help but blush at the adoration in his gaze.

“Sorry to interrupt,” comes from the open doorway, as Jimmy’s doctor steps through. “I’m Dr. Vane, I treated James when he came in. If you’d kindly step out for a moment, I’d like to go over his prognosis.”

The boys file out of the room, and Layla goes to follow, stopped in her tracks by Jimmy tugging her back towards him with a whimper. She gives in, sinking back down in the chair at his bedside.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Jimmy. I was so scared when Robert called. I thought...”

“I’m glad you’re here, petal. Now, come into bed with me. I want to see you better.” Jimmy mutters, scooting over to make room for her to fit in the small hospital bed. Layla laughs, nodding, and crawls in beside him, careful not to hurt him. She turns on her side, her hand landing in his hair again. Jimmy looks up at her, pupils still dilated, and presses a quick peck on her lips, giggling anew.

“You’re so beautiful. Have I ever told you that you’re beautiful? ‘Cause you are.” He insists, slurred speech returning in full force, his eyes fluttering closed.

“Go to sleep, Jimmy. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

He hums softy in response and a few seconds later, Jimmy’s breathing evens out. He’s dead to the world. Through the door left ajar, Layla can hear snippets of the conversation with the doctor.

“... Fractured the tip of his finger… At least a month.”

“Will he be able to play anytime soon?” That was Peter, voice soft with worry for the frail man in the hospital bed.

“He should rest… Not good to put too much strain on it… Keeping him here until the anaesthetic wears off.”

Tuning them out, Layla looks down at the man sleeping beside her. His hair is matted on one side of his head, and he snores louder than he’d ever admit, but he looks peaceful. He’s not in any pain, and that’s enough for Layla. She drifts off, as the sound of footsteps against the floor draw near. Her tired eyes open to slits, and she sees a shadow with dark, shoulder-length and a beard. It must be Bonzo, she thinks. The last thing Layla hears before succumbing to the exhaustion that plagues her, is the drummer’s soothing voice, hushed to a whisper.

“Let them sleep.”

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taglist: @jimmys-zeppelin @salixfragilis @timetraveller4 (let me know if you want to be added!)

#only the black rose #led zeppelin #jimmy page #jimmy page fanfiction #jimmy page fanfic #led zeppelin fanfic #classic rock fanfic #jimmy x oc

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glowcrizzle · 4 years

Audio

Today is the 1 year AO3 anniversary of Slow Show by @mia-ugly. I am beyond grateful that this experience (and it is an experience) has existed in my life for a year and felt it needed commemorating. 🎂

I’m not a creator but I made this playlist for me, so I could take the fic with me, have it with my eyes closed, while driving -- you get it. Today seems like an appropriate day to share it.

It’s a. It’s a lot. Excessive you might even say. Tumblr will only give you the first 100 songs in this, so, Spotify will fulfill you (or overwhelm you). If you hit my username on the playlist, there are separate playlists for each chapter.

This is also on Apple Music, if that’s your jam, just hit me up and I’ll send you the link.

🎉 Happy Slow Show Day!! 🎉

13 pages of track-lists and excerpts below the cut. Godspeed! 💙

Key:

Songs from Mia’s soundtrack

Songs from the Fic

--Title--

Slow Show – The National

--Prequel--

Loverman – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Devils – Say Hi

--Chapter 1--

Here I Go Again – Whitesnake

bad guy – Billie Eilish

-trash a set and shag your husband

Something About You (ODESZA Remix) – Hayden James

-what it would take for Avery Fell to let his guard down

A Little Wicked – Valerie Broussard

-The handkerchief in his hand is now stained purple

You Light Me Up In the Dark – The Hounds Below

-His hair catches the light like a halo, making him look more of an angel than ever.

Lazarus – David Bowie

-This could be a problem

--Chapter 2--

Unsteady – X Ambassadors

-much easier than talking about the way his heartbeat is still racing

Heart of a Dog – The Kills

-Call me darling again.

The Twilight Hour - Still Corners

-Looked across the set and thought, Ah fuck me. I’m in love with him.

God’s Mistake – Tears for Fears

-Avery: He’s closed his eyes again, mouth going flat and still.

Lounge Act – Nirvana

-Tell her all the terrible things I want to do to her husband

Transatlanticism – Death Cab for Cutie

-There’s a strange urgency tonight, though, and Crowley can guess why.

Do I Wanna Know? – Arctic Monkeys

-What could it hurt?

Clueless – The Marias

-“Better - yeah. ‘S late.”

Motel – Meg Myers

-The hotel room is another disaster

--Chapter 3--

Alone in a Room – Asking Alexandria

-“I’m having a moment here!”

Since You’ve Been Around – Rosie Thomas

-makes Crowley feel like he can breathe again

Home Again – The Disco Biscuits

-It’s starting to feel like home again

Every Other Freckle – alt-J

-Perfect. Ridiculous and impossible and perfect.

Something For the Longing – The Orchids

As Far As I Can See – Phantogram

-it’s been a really, really long time

Sinister Kid – The Black Keys

-“Mothering buggering shit-”

All These Things That I’ve Done – The Killers

-Crowley fists one of his hands against his forehead, shuts his eyes tightly.

--Chapter 4--

I Like Me Better – Lauv

-I liked the outline of your face under the stagelights

I Do This for You (ft. Marlene) – Giorgio Moroder

-“Let me see what I can do. About your precious Hamlet.”

The Longing – Imelda May

-Avery POV: “Look at him like - like - you can’t let him see the way you look at him.”

Just a Man – Los Lobos

-Avery POV: like he’s being led into battle and not onto a set to do the job he loves

World In My Eyes – Depeche Mode

-wants to make that bastard purr

Tired (ft. Gavin James) – Alan Walker

-Let me be a magpie for you

Blow My Mind – The Benjamin Gate

-Avery: “I know you now.”

Breathe You in My Dreams – Trixie Whitley

-Crowley’s seen that expression on Avery’s face in his dreams

Love Me Like That (ft. Carly Rae Jepsen) – The Knocks

-What have I done to - oh. Oh. Right.

Like Real People Do - Hozier

-“Sure, angel, what- whatever.”

Clearly – Grace VanderWaal

-Crowley waits for the rest of the night.

Gwendel – PeelsDeen

-Az sits in the back seat, away from Crowley. Alone.

Now I’m In It – HAIM

-Avery POV: It’s a look like an open grave, a look like desire tempered with grief…

Flesh for Fantasy – Billy Idol

-Crowley isn’t lonely for the rest of the night

--Chapter 5 (Avery POV)--

Smalltown Boy – Rosborough

-1978, Hartlepool

Bright Horses – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

-1986, Newcastle Upon Tyne

The Runner – Foals

-1991, Bristol

Shock To Your System – Tegan and Sara

-Tracy: “Why d’you let them?”

Cracking Codes – Andrew Bird

-“Forever, of course. I’ll never -”

Colour me In – Damien Rice

-Their fingers - just touch. Slightly.

I’m Not in Love – 10cc

-Less to regret by not ever speaking of it.

--Chapter 6--

Electric Current – Lower Dens

-“I’ll let you know when you find it.”

Guess I Miss(ed) You – The Daylights

-Keep talking, keep him here a little while longer.

Reflecting Light – Sam Phillips

-“don’t meet his eyes like that, it looks like it’s a lead-in to a kiss”

King of Pain – The Police

-a good reminder of the kind of life he’s got to live

I Wanna Get Better – The Bleachers

-and Avery’s gaze is so gentle it hurts a bit

Feather – X Ambassadors

-Avery: “Someone has to”

Darker Side - Jonny Lang

-Avery: “Oh - good Lord.”

Firestone (Acoustic) – Conrad Sewell

-“Will you show me?”

Velvet Gloves and Spit - Timber Timbre

-“Anthony - ”

Wrong – Depeche Mode

-Avery: “I have to go.”

F**k it I love you – Lana Del Rey

-“Not your fault, angel”

--Chapter 7--

Somebody to Love – Queen

Heavenly – Cigarettes After Sex

-“I fucking still.”

Will Do - TV on the Radio

-“You too. I’ll see you there.”

Monster – Colours

-No wonder Avery ran off like a thief after a heist

Swallow My Pride – Ramones

-“I feel fucking ill about it.”

I Was Wrong - The Oh Hellos

-Avery: “I’m the one who has to apologize, not you.”

The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret – Queens of the Stone Age

-Avery: “Please don’t tell anyone”

Wait for Me – Kings of Leon

-Avery: “Right now, I’m just - a bit in pieces.”

Don’t Stay – X Ambassadors

-“You can - stay or leave or - whatever you like.”

The Moth - Aimee Mann

-Avery’s eyes meet his, and then it’s like a car accident

Red Door – Julien Baker

-“I can - I can wait longer.”

Can’t Pretend - Tom Odell

-“I wasn’t apologizing for that. This morning. I won’t.”

Come Down to Me – Saving Jane

-Avery: “You were wonderful”

Secret Smile – Semisonic

-And if sometimes he catches Az watching him between takes

I Want More - KALEO

-Az laces both of their hands together, stares at them.

I’m Gonna Do My Thing – Royal Deluxe

-“So don’t tell me what will hurt me. I know what hurts.”

--Chapter 8--

Perfect Day – Lou Reed

Remember to Breathe – Sturgil Simpson

-“You can’t sit in the car all night you absolute nightmare”

Wild Love (Acoustic) – James Bay

-The two of them stare at each other and then both look away awkwardly.

Seasons – Future Islands

-finally, fucking finally, he’s exactly where he wants to be

Closer – Tegan and Sara

-Avery: “if you like”

I Want All of You – The Verve Pipe

-“If you think I can survive this without looking at you -”

Use Me – Miguel

-whatever he sees in Crowley’s face makes him come to some sort of decision

So Much Love – Depeche Mode

-Love, he said love

Don’t Be Scared, I Love You – Bill Ryder-Jones

-I know you, Crowley wants to say, but doesn’t.

Become My Dream – Silya & The Sailors

-“Even if - anything, angel.”

I Belong In Your Arms – Chairlift

-For nearly two weeks it goes like this.

Faster - Matt Nathanson

-“You’re going to fucking kill me, angel -”

Come Together (feat. Sivu) – LAUREL

-In case you think they don’t wake up together

The High – Kelela

-Az has pulled a stool over to the edge of the tub

Just in Time – Valerie June

-Then Az’s hand is on his shoulder, turning him around.

I Can’t Take It – Tegan and Sara

-Avery: “Don’t rush, just - like this.”

Like This – Jake Scott

-Avery murmurs and it takes Crowley back to their first kiss

Terrible Love – The National

-Flinches away from him.

Help You Out - Emarosa

-And he nods.

--Chapter 9--

I Remember You – Ramones

-The first person Crowley loved was a liar.

Brighter Skies - Race Banyon

-As if they were cut with a jigsaw, as if they were meant to fit.

Not Tonight – Tegan and Sara

-When they reach the edge of the city, his hand slides out of Crowley’s.

As Sure as I Am – Crowded House

-So Crowley kisses him.

A Promise – Miriam Makeba

-And for awhile, he believed her.

Mistaken for Strangers – The National

-They’re only two small words, but they still make Crowley’s teeth ache.

Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye – Leonard Cohen

-“Good-“ Swallow, speak, leave.

The Fear – Pulp

-Crowley should have been smarter this time. He really should have been.

Take Me – Leela James

-“I’d like you to close your blinds.”

Whenever You Want It – Clare Maguire

-“What do we do now?”

At My Weakest – James Arthur

-“It will be.”

Komm zurück - Fotos

-For years and years and years, nothing did.

Come on Get Higher – Matt Nathanson

-their feet sliding in the tub

Lay Down – Sarah Proctor

-I want to wake up with you.

Sort Of - Ingrid Michaelson

-Why is my heart breaking?

Fairytale of New York – The Pogues

-Just pump that shit straight into his veins.

What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? – Ella Fitzgerald

-Avery: “What do you think?”

We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together – The Velvet Underground

-“You want to grab dinner somewhere?”

Hiding – IAN SWEET

-Crowley stops walking. Looks at Az in the darkness.

Romance Dawn – Radkey

-A slice of light cuts through the darkness.

Crown of Love – Arcade Fire

-Crowley feels like the world has never been darker, and his heart will never stop beating

Devil’s Backbone – The Civil Wars

-He thought he was ready for this conversation, but at the sight of Az’s face, his throat has gotten too tight to speak.

Sinners – Lauren Aquilina

-“If this all goes down in flames, if it all falls apart - we can go off together.”

Please Forgive Me (Song of the Crow) – William Fitzsimmons

-Avery: “It’s over. I’m - I’m so sorry.”

Start a War – The National

-He twitches and trips and yet somehow manages to walk away without falling over.

Broken – Daley

-And this soft heartache was somehow the sharpest of them all.

--Chapter 10 (Avery POV)--

Daily Battles - Thom Yorke & Flea

-He tries to remember these things - but the background is still a chorus of beeping machines. There’s nowhere he can be but here.

Everybody Wants You - Red Hearse

-Go out and surround himself with people much more interesting and available than Avery. Better people, certainly.

A Thin Line – Blackchords

-But still - roads not taken, and other fun middle-aged spirals.

My Own Soul’s Warning - The Killers

-When was the last time someone asked Avery that? When was the last time he asked himself?

Who Am I - NEEDTOBREATHE

-I miss you. There. It didn’t hurt as much as he thought it would.

Wait for Me - Jack Curley

-What he wants to say is ‘don’t find someone else. Not yet. You and your black leather and your cut-glass profile: you’re gorgeous and God knows other people want you.’

Coming & Going – Amaal

-“Two ships passing in the night,” he says quietly. Then he takes a swallow of wine, lets it roll down his throat. “If you were here -”

Iron - Woodkid

-Crowley leaves him there, pressed against the wet brick wall. Crowley leaves him there. Crowley steps between Avery and a camera, and then leaves him.

The Greatest Bastard - Damien Rice

-He can’t be the person that kicks Crowley into the ashes again. He can’t hurt him like this, and Avery’s going to hurt him - he already has.

No Right to Love You – Rhys Lewis

-He deserves someone like - like Daniel. Deserves to be loved in the daylight.

If It’s Hurting You - Robbie Williams

-Time is a tricky business when you’re dying slowly; it skips like a flat stone on a quiet lake.

Happy For You – Gayle

-But surely - surely he’s allowed just this much. Just one message, just so Crowley knows that - that he’s happy for him. That Avery is so happy.

I See You (ICU) - Phoebe Bridgers

-When Avery sees Crowley on the red carpet, it feels like the sudden remembrance of a lovely dream.

Once In My Life - The Decemberists

-Crowley: “I know there’ve been some - hard times. That’s - that is what it is. But for me - it’s been a privilege. A dream. So.” He nods and nods and nods again. “Thank you.”

Coming Down - Dum Dum Girls

-Tracy: “But I wasn’t. I was hurting you. This whole time, Az.” She shakes her head, wiping frantically at tears that won’t stop falling. “He loves you.”

I Don’t Know Anything – Little Voice Cast

-He’s afraid of finding out that all this time - he was doing the wrong thing anyway. He’s afraid that Anthony Crowley will never talk to him again.

Sweet Sour - Band of Skulls

-"And you're fired"

Heart Attack - Devarrow

-The sun is still rising when Avery gets out of the car, closes the door behind him. Though some of the roads have changed, his feet still know the way down to the docks of his youth. He was never a sailor, but the shoreline is familiar as a childhood sweetheart, as a long lost love.

Landslide - Robyn Sherwell

-He’s alone, and he’s nearly fifty years old. He could get on a ship, he could throw himself into the sea. There’s no one holding him back anymore.

All I Can - Sharon van Etten

-And he knows. He knows.

--Chapter 11--

Salvation - The Strumbellas

- there’s a moment where he swears he sees a young idiot in black standing in the crowd. Red hair gelled up into spikes, black t-shirt full of holes and safety pins. A young man who has no idea how much he’s about to lose.

Soldier - Fleurie

-And he’s still fucking here.

Easier – Mansionair

-Then he gets the fuck above ground and he calls Beez (oh great, they’re his emotional-support-asshole now. That’s healthy).

Deep End – Holly Humberstone

-“I brought you cheese,” Beez says, and Crowley starts crying.

Falling Short – Lapsley

-For the next few days, he lets his stupid body do what it needs to do to keep himself upright.

Chariot (Stripped Version) - Gavin DeGraw

-Shit, this was a bad bad idea.

Quiet Light - The National

-There’s a text from Az later that night, and his name on Crowley’s phone makes him feel like jumping off a cliff.

All That We Had is Lost - Postiljonen

-He’s not allowed to be in love with that man anymore. Wasn’t ever, really.

Heal - Tom Odell

-It makes a rather hysterical laugh well out of his throat. Anthony fucking Crowley. You are still alive.

Let Me Go - HAIM

-Crowley tries to ignore the soft, injured expression on the other man’s face as he turns away.

A Beginning Song - The Decemberists

-“What’s more frightening than having a choice?”

The Spark - William Prince

-And he likes to think he would have just burned the world to ashes with the power of his love, would have said fuck everyone, I choose you – but who knows.

Sharp Scratch - The Slow Show

-So stupid, I know, and I’m - sorry, I still love you and I’m tryin’ to stop and I will I just - needed to tell you that. I’ll be fine. You’ll be fine. Just miss you.

Beautiful & Brutal – Plested

-Crowley moves without thinking. Falls like a stagelight, glass everywhere. He walks forward and is kissing Az before the door has even been pulled shut.

Bad Chemistry - Fake Shark

-“I’ve been - thinking about this -” Az says between darts of his tongue against Crowley’s overheated skin.

All We Do – Oh Wonder

-“But I - I love you. And I can’t - hide. It hurts too much.”

Broken Strings - James Morrison (ft Nelly Furtado)

-“I wouldn’t survive it. That way it was. I wouldn’t.”

Stole the Show – Parson James

-But even on their distant shores, Crowley and Az don’t stop looking at each other. It feels like an ending. Maybe it is one. Not a happy ending, but not a bad one either.

Level Up - Vienna Teng

-excerpt from Anthony Crowley: Out of the shadows, under the spotlight

The Wire (Alternate Version) – Patrick Droney

-Avery: “I’m rather in - in love with you.”

Sweet Thing - Van Morrison

-“You can stay at my place. If you like.”

Falling in Love - Cigarettes After Sex

-“I love you. I’ve missed you, and I love you, and I want you -”

Stay - Cat Power

-He watches the slow flicker of awareness in Avery’s blue eyes. The curve of his mouth into a shade of smile that Crowley’s never seen before.

Freedom - George Michael

-“To the world.”

--Chapter 12--

Banks - NEEDTOBREATHE

-What he wasn’t used to was bringing someone else down with him, and jail would be a bloody blessing compared to seeing Az grey-faced and staring out windows, or that one time Crowley’s pretty sure the man was crying in the bathroom, trying to swallow down the sound so that Crowley didn’t notice (he clenches his hands into fists just thinking about it).

Black Mambo - Glass Animals

-“It’ll have to be.” Crowley drops to his knees. “There’s a lot of ground to cover.”

Florets - Grace VanderWaal

-Crowley can let his fingers curl against Az’s palm, can watch him open as a flame, not caring who notices.

Sight of the Sun - fun.

-That this longing won’t destroy him, and won’t destroy Az either. It’s not a shovel for burying Crowley alive - it’s a spade for planting things.

Pale Blue Eyes - The Velvet Underground

-Az drops his hand onto Crowley’s knee (“What is this song? I rather like it.”).

Only Everything (Acoustic) – Quinn Lewis

-“It’s nice to have someone make it for you, right? Sometimes,” Crowley says softly, too much love in his throat and in his hands. It’s hard to breathe around it, especially when Avery is looking at him.

The Book of Love - The Magnetic Fields

-“You bought a cottage for us.” Crowley is an animal being taught to speak through scraps of meat and electric shocks. “This cottage.”

Say You’ll Be Mine – Christopher Cross

-Avery: “But if you wanted -” Fuck, there are tears in Avery’s eyes. “If you want. I’d like to call you my husband. I’d like to say ‘let me ask my husband,’ or ‘I brought my husband with me’ or ‘my husband won a BAFTA’.”

Anthem - Leonard Cohen

-Their broken edges match. And somehow, the light still shines through.

Precious Love – James Morrison

-When the light catches them both, they shine. And so do you. So do we.

Good Man (acoustic) - Josh Ritter

If you made it this far...wow, hi hello. So, this is ours and my musical exposure is limited, if you’ve got a better song for an excerpt, feel free to shoot it over, more than happy for this to be a living changeable thing. 🤡

#slow show #slow show playlist #tumblr html code after read more is some bullshit #it's fic for your ears

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sagehaleyofficial · 3 years

Photo

HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK (4.7-4.13.21):

NEW MUSIC:

Action/Adventure revealed they have signed to Pure Noise Records, as well as announced a new EP titled Pulling Focus. The EP will drop on April 30 and contains their viral single “Barricades.”

The Maine dropped another track from their upcoming album XOXO: From Love and Anxiety in Real Time titled “April 7th.” The new album will be released on July 9 via Photo Finish Records and 8123.

Free Throw announced a new record titled Piecing It Together, which will be released on June 25 via Triple Crown Records. The band also dropped a new single “Cloud Sick.”

Twenty One Pilots confirmed the details of their new album Scaled and Icy, which will be released on May 21 via Fueled by Ramen. The album features their new single “Shy Away,” which was released the same day as the album announcement.

Tigress announced the details of their long-awaited debut album titled Pura Vida. The record is set for release on September 3 via Humble Angel Records and contains their new single “Disconnect.”

Beartooth released a new music video for their song “Devastation,” which was released a few weeks back. The track is set to appear on the band's new album Below, which is scheduled for release on June 25 via Red Bull Records.

Black Veil Brides confirmed all of the details of their brand new album The Phantom Tomorrow. The record is set for release on June 4 via Sumerian Records and contains the new single “Fields of Bone.”

ONE OK ROCK will be releasing a new single titled “Renegades” this Friday, which they co-wrote with Ed Sheeran. The song serves as the theme song for the upcoming film Rurouni Kenshin: The Final.

AFI shared another two tracks from their upcoming new album Bodies. The first, “Dulcería,” was co-written by Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan and was dropped alongside their other single “Far Too Near.”

Holding Absence released a new track “Nomoreroses” off of their upcoming album The Greatest Mistake of My Life. The song follows the previous singles “In Circles,” “Afterlife” and “Beyond Belief.”

TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Offspring revealed they are heading back to the United Kingdom for a set of arena shows, bringing along The Hives. The tour will begin in Dublin on November 21 and end in Leeds, England on November 30.

Asking Alexandria shared footage of them playing their song “Someone, Somewhere” last week. The song is off of their album Reckless and Relentless, which is celebrating its 10th birthday.

PVRIS announced a trio of special album livestreams for their latest release Use Me. The events will be taking place this Saturday, April 17 at 8PM EST, with tickets available on the band’s Pillar page.

Rise Against released footage of them playing their new song “Nowhere Generation” as part of something they are calling the “Nowhere Sessions.” Their upcoming album is scheduled for release on June 4.

Mod Sun released a full tutorial of how he plays the drums for his collab with Avril Lavigne, “Flames.” He released his recent album Internet Killed the Rockstar back in February.

OTHER NEWS:

New Years Day's Ash Costello guided Rhea Ripley down the ring during her match against Asuka at the Raw Women's Championship on Sunday. She performed Rhea's entrance song “Brutality,” which she appears on.

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl revealed the details of a new book that he has written titled The Storyteller. The book is currently set for release on October 5 and is available for pre-order now.

All Time Low’s recent smash hit “Monsters” is now certified Gold in the United States. The band also recently performed the track, which has over 8 million views on YouTube, on Jimmy Kimmel Live! just last week.

This year’s Record Store Day releases were revealed and will feature re-releases of albums by Linkin Park, PVRIS, IDKHOW, Deftones, Senses Fail, Alkaline Trio and Evanescence. The event will take place on both June 6 and 17.

Twenty One Pilots, All Time Low and Machine Gun Kelly are all up for Alternative Rock Song of the Year at this year’s iHeartRadio Music Awards. Other nominees include The Pretty Reckless, Foo Fighters and Billie Eilish, among others.

Waterparks’ album Fandom surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify, the first of the band's albums to do so. The album also has five tracks in their Top 10 ranking on the platform.

Foo Fighters revealed a new documentary called What Drives Us, which will focus on the process of heading out on the road as a band. The documentary will be available on Amazon Prime on April 30.

___

Check in next Tuesday for more “Posi Talk with Sage Haley,” only at @sagehaleyofficial!

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eruden-writes · 3 years

Text

Wretched Creature - Part 3

A Beauty and the Beast retelling.

After taking on her father’s punishment, Bellona finds herself imprisoned at a castle with Larek, a man who has an incessant need to self-depreciate himself despite being decently attractive, and a contingent of sentient objects.

Needless to say, it’s a confusing time all around.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

---

At some point, she and Larek began to run into each other. Perhaps he noticed she gravitated toward the library, since - after the first few run-ins - he appeared to visit the books more frequently. Bellona would try to shake him off. There was only so far she could go, though. Eventually, tired of actively trying to avoid him, she'd simply ignore him.

In the library, they'd sit on opposite sides of the room, quietly reading. In the garden, they'd pass each other on the path. Through the castle, they'd gravitate to opposite sides of the corridors. Over time, he edged closer. Asking about her books or informing her about the noteworthy fauna in the garden or history in the castle.

Bellona didn't know when or how it happened, but one day she realized Larek no longer skirted the edges of her day to day life. They'd sit close in the library and linger over books, sharing insights. Larek sometimes surprised her with a succinct observation she never would have considered. Or they'd walk through the garden together, where she taught him to make flower crowns and relayed her late mother's herbal knowledge. On one particularly clear, crisp night, the two even went to the solarium to view the stars and he pointed out constellations she hadn't even known.

The strangeness of the castle soon became her new normal and, oddly, she found herself fitting in. She'd bake and cook with Miss Chai or help Fruk clean the hard-to-reach places in the castle. Often, she'd watch the teacup children, keeping them entertained with stories or what projects they could do.

But Larek's ongoing crusade of how his body was wretched and ugly and useless remained.

One day, while they read together on one of the couches in the library, Larek began complaining. She wasn't even sure what triggered his self-hate. Perhaps something daring he read in his own book, reminding him of his perceived inadequacies. Fed up with his sentiments - taking them somewhat personally, for some reason - she shot back to him, "Should I show you how to love yourself?"

That certainly got his attention. Larek's eyes snapped to her face, wide with momentary shock. Bellona refused to look at him. Her eyes glued to the book in her lap, trying to remain cool as her brain agonized in embarrassment. The expression on his face shifted as his eyes narrowed, an uncertain flush biting at his cheeks. "How, exactly?"

The scant space between them, on the library couch, warmed and sizzled. If a hapless dust mote happened to fall between them, it'd burn up. Bellona pretended to finish her page, before calmly placing her bookmark and closing her book. Her attention slowly turned to Larek. He shifted beneath her eye and, she thought, he was holding his breath. He looked stiff and awkward, like the young men in the village whenever a woman repaid a flirtatious remark. Making a contemplative sound, Bellona set her book aside before bridging the space between herself and Larek.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," she started, trying to keep the smile off her lips as she reached to his cheek. His body heat seared into her fingertips and the pink on his cheeks darkened. "But you're more of a physical learner, aren't you?"

The knot in his throat bobbed as he swallowed, eyes never leaving her face. When he spoke, his words came out in a rasp, "Very much so."

"In that case," Bellona purred, the smile cresting her lips now. Her hands drew to his chest, pressing her palms flat against him. Beneath her touch, his heart thundered. She leaned close, lips brushing his as she spoke, "I should show rather than tell, shouldn't I?"

When their lips met, heat bloomed in her and her eyelids fluttered shut. Bellona leaned further into his heat, feeling his chest rise and fall with excitement as she deepened the kiss. His warm palms pressed to her hips, their positions shifting until she was straddling his lap. A throaty groan left his lips, her hand finding itself buried in his hair and giving him a little tug.

Excitement flashed through Bellona as Larek's hands tightened on her hips, his own bucking up into her. She answered with a little gasp of her own, breaking the kiss. Her eyes flickered open, her mouth returning to his to catch his lower lip between her teeth.

Larek groaned again, deep in his chest and vibrating against her palms, as her nip sunk in. Instead of pulling her closer, his hands pressed to her arms and firmly pushed her back. Her curious look was met with three words that brought chilly displeasure to her gut. "We should stop."

"What?" Suddenly, the delightful heat she'd stoked turned sickly and painful. Her eyes searched his face, wondering if this was a cruel teasing on his part. But a sober seriousness pinched at Larek's features. "Why?"

She hated the fact she sounded so hurt.

It took Larek a moment to answer. His eyes turning away from her, as if to find a physical representation of his excuse. "None of this is fair. Especially not to you."

The heat inside Bellona shifted. It turned from warm and fuzzy to biting and rigid. Her time with him, idling away the days, had nearly made her forget. He was her captor, keeping her in the castle through a deal. How could she forget that? How could she so eagerly kiss him, let alone climb into his lap? Why was she so upset he'd stopped?

Confusion bit at the back of her eyes as she pushed off him. She blinked back the tears, anger whirling around her head. At herself, the situation, Larek.

For once, Larek's tone was hesitant. "Bellona?"

Her name on his lips spurred the rage inside her. She wheeled her hand back, letting it fly through the air until her palm made impact with his cheek. A satisfying SMACK echoed in the library. With her hand stinging, Bellona stormed from the library, leaving Larek behind. His eyes wide and a red hand mark flaming at his cheek.

After the library incident, Bellona ignored Larek. He'd approach and she'd brush passed him. He'd ask about the book she was reading, but she never looked up or she got up and left the room. By the third day, he took the hint and tried to smooth things over. They were sweet attempts - bouquets of wildflowers, baking her a dessert, trinkets from carved wood - and almost melted her cold exterior.

Instead of thawing, his actions ended up cracking her. One morning, while in a sun-dappled garden, she stared at the things Larek had thrust into her arms. A bouquet of flowers - lilies, this time - and something new. A necklace made of bone and carved with delicate designs. Her thumb traced the carefully etched lines as he explained where he'd gotten the materials and bumbled over his reason for making it.

She didn't fully hear him. Her brain was stuck on flowers and sweets and, now, jewelry. Trappings of courtship and mocking ones, at that.

"Stop!" Bellona threw the bouquet and necklace - made of bone decorated by Larek with intricate carvings - back into his face. Clenching her fists, she glared up into the man's face, face ruddy from frustration and confused tears swelling on her lashes. "Stop with all this! This is confusing enough for me, as is."

"What?" The word came out small for someone who liked to pretend to be bigger than he was.

"What happened in the library was a mistake." Her words came out fiercer than she anticipated. Or maybe a subconscious part of her liked how pained Larek looked from her outburst and wanted more. Still, perhaps, she couldn't deny the hurt and confusion making her heart ache. Tears started to stream down her cheeks and, savagely, she wiped them away as they fell. "No matter what, I'm a captive here. Anything developing between us would be wrong."

With her eyes on the ground, Bellona could tell he stared at her. That just made the heat in her flare again. She wanted to scream at him to say or do something. Pride kept her shoulders hunched, palms swiping at her cheeks as more tears fell.

"Go home."

Her head snapped up, brows furrowed as the surprise halted her tears. "What?"

"Go home. See your father." Larek spoke slowly, as if he didn't want to say the words. His gaze locked onto previously offered gifts in his arms. "Return to me when you're ready."

The world felt strangely still to her, though birds fluttered overhead and bugs flitted in the corner of her vision. Her pulse throbbed in her ears, anxious trembles clenching at her stomach. After a deep breath, Bellona asked, "And if that's never?"

He didn't answer right away. His eyes were still on the items in his arms while the knot at his throat bobbed. Finally, he drew his eyes to Bellona's face, expression pinched with an ache she couldn't define. "Then I'll accept that."

---

Moments later, she was in her room, intending to pack to visit her father. But, as she entered the chambers, a voice said she shouldn't have anything to pack. He'd kept her there, against her will. She should have fled the garden and gone straight home.

Numbly, she began gathering items, laying them out atop a blanket she'd later fashion into a bag. A book of pressed flowers, started by she and Larek. Sloppy drawings the teacup children had made. Her own sketches, in a bound book made with Miss Lumi's direction. With the book she was currently reading in hand, she paused.

"You can take that," Causton's clipped tone came from the doorway. Bellona spun, eyes widening as she saw the crowd.

Causton, Miss Lumi, Fruk, Miss Chai and the little teacups, and... more. It surprised Bellona that she could name each one, had grown to know them well. Their expressions ran the gamut from dismal to embittered. A miserable cloud hovered over them, each staring from the hall, none entering her room. Many seemed about ready to say something.

"Bellona, please don't leave. We need you to-" One of the little teacups - Grey -clattered forward, their small voice sounding close to breaking. They were stopped by Miss Chai, tilting her spout to halt their progress.

"I need space from Larek, from here." She turned back to her things, deciding she had what she wanted to keep. Trying not to look at them, she tied the blanket closed, before folding and wrapping until she had a makeshift bag. Did they know what had happened between she and Larek? He seemed to tell them everything. That thought made her stomach spin and, if she hadn't been fighting down tears earlier, now she was. "I'll be back. I just... I need to think."

No more was said as she shrugged on a coat, the spring days still a tinge chilly from winter. She had made her way out of her bedroom and down the hall when one of them spoke again. Again, her heart lurched, closing her eyes to stymie the sudden flood of tears.

"Come back soon," Fruk growled, voice thick with hurt. His words softened as he added, "We're going to miss you."

It took her a moment to reply. Two deep breaths and a swallow, before she half-turned to give the assembled a watery smile. "I'll try."

With that, Bellona hurried down the stairs and out of the castle, refusing to look back again.

#exophilia #exo #monster lover #lol this was supposed to be shorter than this #ugh I have other things to write #x_x #wretched creature part 3 #wc part 3 #wc 3 #beauty and the beast retelling #beauty and the beast #bellona #larek #wretched creature #wc #sfw

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octanesimp3000 · 3 years

Text

The Bunny, The Decoy and the Apex Games #5

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32034451/chapters/79792999

Summary:

With the plan successfully executed, now all you and Octavio would have to do was play the role of a happy couple. But you were beginning to realize that there was still a lot to Octavio that you didn't know about.

Credit for the idea that Octane has a plush bunny goes to @kryzo-stimz!

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4

————————————————————————–

Unfortunately, your squad was not crowned as the Champions this time around. You’d managed to get to the Top 3 before being sandwiched between the final two squads and getting knocked out by a Kraber.

There was some good news however. While you were not the champions of this round of the Apex Games, you and Octavio were certainly the champions of the audiences’ hearts. Social media exploded after your public kiss on screen with post after post of the clip being shared with the hashtags #SuperSpeedLove and #KissedByTheDaredevil.

Most people seemed excited that there was romance happening in the Apex Games, thinking that this would up the ante on the battlefield, or they just thought that the confession was cute and were in support of the relationship. Some so-called Octane super fans however had resorted to sending you direct messages on your social media accounts, telling you some not-so-kind things about what they’d do to you if they ever saw you in person.

As you scrolled through several of these posts that your fans had tagged you in on your social media feed, you couldn’t help but think that the person who had placed the cameras was somewhat of a genius. Since Octavio’s face was still being kept a secret from the public, the camera had been positioned so his face was just out of view and yet, there was no mistaking that you two had shared an oh so loving kiss.

Although it had only been three days since the previous game, you’d already started to notice the changes that your new ‘relationship’ brought to how you were treated. Earlier in the day, you had been notified about an interview you were to attend later that week but instead of it just being you on your own like you were used to, Octavio had been invited to attend the interview as well. Presumably, the journalists were going to ask you two questions about your relationship which you were not ready for.

Your relationship dynamic with Octavio had taken quite a change as well. When the other Legends saw you around the dropship now, they fully expected to see Octavio with you as if you two came as a pair and you both didn’t have lives of your own outside of each other. Octavio had also taken to affectionately calling you his little bunny, you weren’t exactly sure why he did it but you thought it was pretty cute so you had allowed him to continue with it without question.

Not only that, but when you did hang out with Octavio, you two would hold hands or even cuddle if you were hanging out in the common area. The PDA was obviously just an act to convince the other Legends that nothing fishy was going on but you were really starting to enjoy it. You would never openly admit it to Octavio however, it would just make things awkward.

The first week after a game was always the most peaceful and you were enjoying this moment of serenity in your bed with your laptop perched on your lap when you heard a knock on your door. You moved the laptop onto the bed and stood up to open the door, surprised when you found Octavio with his hair dyed green yet again standing there with his arms laden with all of his computer gear and video game consoles. “Can I help you?,” you asked.

“Need to put these down pronto. Can you let me in, please?,” you heard Octavio say quickly from behind the mountain of computer parts. You moved aside to let Octavio into your dormitory where he proceeded to dump all of his things onto the carpeted floor, releasing a loud sigh of relief. Before you could ask what he thought he was doing, Octavio got to his feet again and said “I’ll be right back!” before running out the door.

Octavio made multiple trips to and from his room to your dormitory, each time carrying in more of his personal belongings and leaving them on your floor or on your bed. Finally when you could handle the suspense no longer, you finally grabbed Octavio by the shoulders before he could run off again for the sixth time and asked “Why are you bringing your stuff into my room? Just cause we’re fake dating doesn’t mean we have to live together too, or did the Syndicate add another clause to our agreement that I missed?”

“No, no! The air conditioner in my room is leaking so I had to find somewhere safe for all my stuff. I couldn’t just leave them there,” Octavio groaned, running his fingers through his hair as he gazed at all of his belongings that were now scattered throughout your dormitory. He hesitated before asking pleadingly “Can I please stay the night here? As soon as the leak is fixed and I can move my stuff back there, I’ll be outta here!”

You didn’t exactly want to share a room with Octavio but you couldn’t help but feel bad for him. You considered suggesting that he camp out on the couches in the common area but you knew that it wasn’t the most comfortable place to sleep even for someone who survived mostly on energy drinks and rarely slept like Octavio. After a few moment’s hesitation, you sighed and said “I suppose you could.”

“Yes! Thank you, thank you,” Octavio exclaimed in delight as he pulled you into a tight hug before dashing back out to collect the final things from his room. Ten minutes later, your usually neat desk was cluttered with wires and computer parts as Octavio busied himself with putting it all back together. Apparently he’d had to take it apart to check that nothing had gotten drenched in the water leaking from the air conditioner.

You sat on the bed, silently watching him at work before deciding to turn your attention to the things Octavio had left on your bed. There were a few superhero comic books whose pages looked well-read, a handheld video game console, a few cans of limited edition energy drinks named ‘Speedy Devil’ after Octavio himself and finally, a medium-sized white plush rabbit. You couldn’t help but smile as you picked the stuffed rabbit up and turned to Octavio, saying “I didn’t take you as someone who collected plush toys.”

His cheeks flushed a deep red and Octavio made a grab for the rabbit but missed as you’d twisted away from him, holding the toy tightly to your chest. “Give it back!,” Octavio shouted as he leaped onto you without a second thought, trying his hardest to tug the rabbit away from your grip. You began to feel your heart racing uncomfortably as it had back in that building in World’s Edge as you lay pinned underneath Octavio and quickly released your tight grip on the plush rabbit so he could take it away from you easily.

Octavio clambered off the bed and frowned down at you for a moment before sitting back down at the desk and silently going back to work on his computer, with the plush rabbit placed on his lap. You pushed yourself back up into a sitting position and once you were sure your heart had stopped racing like you’d just ran a marathon, said apologetically “I’m sorry, Octavio. I was only teasing you. I think it’s sweet that you’ve got a plush rabbit, I’ve got a few of my own too.”

Silence followed your words. You were beginning to worry that you’d somehow upset him again when Octavio suddenly said without looking away from the circuit board he was fiddling with “I used to have a pet rabbit named Navi. He used to sit in my jacket pocket and we’d do all sorts of fun stuff together but he died when his rocket crashed into this planet in outer space. I got this plush rabbit cause it kinda reminds me of him and it makes me feel, I don’t know, happy?”

He’d completely lost you at the part where apparently his pet rabbit had died while piloting a rocket which crashed into a planet. Surely that didn’t really happen? You knew it wasn’t the right time to ask about it though so you gently placed a hand on Octavio’s shoulder and said with a smile “I’m sure Navi would be glad that you’ve got that little guy there watching over you while he’s out exploring the galaxy.”

Octavio turned to you with a smile, saying “Navi didn’t really like too many people other than me but I think Navi would have liked you a lot so I guess you can hold his plush counterpart.” He handed you the plush rabbit which you took gratefully, glad that the air was cleared between the two of you again. You placed the plush rabbit on your lap as you leaned back against the backboard of your bed, scrolling through your phone and occasionally showing some memes you found funny to Octavio who upon finally finishing setting up his computer had loaded up a racing game. You began to feel at peace with him by your side - a feeling you felt you could get used to.

#apex legends #apex octavio silva #apex octane #apex fanfic #octavio silva #octane #apex #fanfiction #fake dating #love triangle

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thecrenellations · 3 years

Text

Return of the Thief Notes, Part Two: The Book of Pheris, Volume 2, Chapters 1-5

Notes from my first read, October 2020. (Part One | Part Three | TaT)

Contents: Me losing my mind in multiple ways each chapter, helpful links, nighttime garden cousins, an Irene pun, notes from my second read, “mwt is just like going for it,” and “this is so fucked up and heartwarming.”

Format: Page number. My thoughts (Context?)

Volume 2

Illustration

Book 2 bro

Now we’re caught up and changed forever by lots of things

What printer’s apprentice made this?

Elephants!

Chapter 1

175. me too, Costis, me too. I am so tired. (it’s hard to sleep when your brain and heart and everything are fizzing because you’re reading Return of the Thief for the first time and a new Queen’s Thief book for the last time)

176. Klimun + Gerosthenes vibes [moon doodle]

Holes in documents. That’s cute

Gen!!! <3

Wtf Ansel was hoodwinked!

177. The Queen waited

They’re ridiculous

Hi Pheris

Wtf he stole her earrings for Melheret?!?

178. Excuse me??? What is this book (sleeveless leather tunic)

He still roams!!!

Tattoos!

179. a sentence I never fucking expected to read ever “The absence of tattoos…”

180. that’s interesting

Stacked like kindling wow oh dear

181. She wants him to move in lol

Lol sorry Ion

Did she just want them to leave the room?

182. I can’t with this… I can’t. Why is sex symbol Relius canon. (the play that featured him! It’s great, it’s great, it was just a lot to take in!)

Silver crown?

183. Cleon! Rude!

Did they call Costis to deck him?

Queen scene!! <3

184. This is an epic. Abt Costis. Dirty stranger

185. he’s “the high king”

Lol

187. prophet (Pheris sure makes Costis sound like one)

Shut up Piloxides

188. resources for war! (book launch foreshadowing part two! She talked a lot about this kind of thing as well, and recommended the book Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army)

189. “we”

What were you gonna say (Gen almost says something to Costis part one)

193. RIP The Magus Archives … it was not to be. Yet.

194. Melenze’s doorstep. Why? Bc Melenze is Ferria’s dog. (idk dude that line from ACoK has just never left me)

195. This is … a big war

196. Oh gen

Nighttime garden cousins.

Chapter 2

197. wtf did Relius think of that play

Also … not a peep from the sacred mountain huh

198. wtf will happen with Cleon

with Erondites

with THE MOUNTAIN

a lot going on

everyone was in that room but Kamet! So close!

199. Cute Fordad + Gen friendship (I never said these notes would make me look smart)

Same 2 T + R! :) It’s not them is it? (I NEVER SAID THESE NOTES WOULD MAKE ME LOOK SMART)

Poor Teleus

200. gdi Gen

Excuse me? Is he worried for Pheris??? (taking his tablet)

They trust each other! C’mon!

Sure he has reasons

202. oh dear. :( that’s … the worst cover story

Also falling

203. wow almost like a story huh

Ula’s altar :(

Why haven’t we had a Gen and Costis scene IN THREE BOOKS

205. I just … I don’t know if he’s just miserable or if it’s all a plan. I feel like I should know it’s all a plan. But he really feels like he has far to go. He’s just a mess and the same and so different. (having a small Gen meltdown)

205. he did give him the gun

Odd that he missed Quedue

206. he’s gonna bite them (buckle up! it’s abdication time!)

207. Power. Power. Power. Power.

Thx 4 the editorializing Pheris

208. Gen is making choices. That’s a choice.

209. There’s KoA down the drain

Aaaand he’s Eugenides

“Eugenides stared into the future”

The page of like 3 different tumblr posts: Trophy husband, Library, No! yes!

210. make sure he doesn’t leave lol

211. Pheris :(

Also fucked up timing for Irene

I love them

212. again with the birthday book

He’s still the king in the narration

Go on the roof! So close!

213. EUGENIDES IS ALWAYS APPROPRIATE my motto

Viper! Bastard!

Oh shit. I love them.

214. “our treaty” “our queen”

AAAH! Wedding night!

Asked her to leave!

Smash Erondites and peace out, literally

215. a frank talk

HE SAID IT.

216. The Bructs?

Wait is this his grandfather (taking a moment to remember all about Susa)

Also that’s Costis territory

217. who is this lion

218. #3 to Gen.

219. hmmm ring

There’s been a lot to unpack wow.

Did this happen, Pheris? Pheris?!

220. Atté atté!

(Dear reader: for some strange reason, I completely forgot about taking notes on the final pages of this chapter. These notes are from when I reread those pages a few minutes later.)

Erondites full cup to brimming

The Pherises…

We must think of others before ourselves … occasionally

I do not like Orutus

Don’t fence Costis in! Does this count as prison? No (I had a square on my bingo board for “someone ends up in prison” ... but it turned out to be for someone else)

221. damn Costis

Aaah

Costis …

Irene… your jokes (I mean, it’s a joke, but also it is very real for her.)

SHE SAID IT!

My heart

222. where is Relius going?

SPYING

What you see and what you think it means (I love these instructions/this quote so much)

So are Susa + Erondites 2gether or what (listen ... proximity generates meaning in these books)

Also, like

What can

I say

WHAT CAN I SAY (Hell yeah! Never more glad to be wrong about the magus)

[page long list of doubles and parallels - from Cleons and Pherises and Ions to god-character and character-character connections]

Also the fact that in KoA and TaT Relius was like … oh … no … I just live a gentle life being friends with my king and queen and being scholarly. But no. He’s SPYING and TRAVELING MYSTERIOUSLY and has MANY LOVERS and also has been WITH TELEUS ALL ALONG and there is a PLAY written about him and he has a ~messenger~ network and PLAYS THE FLUTE and DOESN’T MAKE HIS BED and DISLIKES MATH and oh and he’s VERY HANDSOME! (Yes I was losing it, I hope my note from after the poem helps show some of the feelings behind this rant.)

Fucking … Wine shop. Should have known.

Chapter 3

224. ominous

Hello magus!

Sophos … babe (his impatience!)

225. Magus … cool your socks that’s your bff (he’s just describing Helen’s dead body! Fun!!!!)

In the van

That was good I love them

Why is it Couples Hour?

226. finally we’re out of the capital of Attolia

Ok they’re so cute

She was NEVER Helen in ACoK narration!

Also – Pheris. This is all Pheris. (Pheris plus information others told him!)

227. Bringing each other up to date – that’s their thing. Talking forever

All this talk of shooting Therespides

228. EX FUCKING SCUSE ME (time to learn a lot about the country of Eddis)

He was 15! (or almost 15)

He didn’t know! Or did he!

The MoW!

All thru Pheris

Fuck you magus

When did he know

229. EXCUSE ME

The emeralds?

Assumed the worst?

That classic quote about little to do with winter but with “seducing other people’s lovers”

230. yeah Sophos that’s a lost cause (“spare me my blushes”)

Also she didn’t answer you

What are they laughing about (the generally nameless men we’re learning many things about this chapter)

233. Gen I think it’s fair to say that was a mistake

234. wtf Gen

GEN! he just. Had those. (the jewels!)

Her crown

I cannot

235. Gen!

237. Crash

Her CHANGES

238. THESE TWO

239. called annux

Yeah it’s like … a family meeting (the war council)

Bring your father to work day

241. Oh no.

Stenides! Boagus!!!!!!!

EDDIS!

Wolves! Lol

mwt is just like going for it

243. aww

Eddis > Boagus > Gen

244. Yeah I’m with her on this. (“if that doesn’t frighten you, it should”)

Chapter 4

245. Gen and Magus scene yes!

Two people affected by his long hair (Gen and the magus? I think?)

Pheris are you there?

Gen … you used to wish yourself out of existence

Wow

Hair vanity

Yeah also battlefield

Ion is a darling tbh

248. Is he. Is he going to fight all of them

Also they are all his cousins huh

AULUS! I liked you!

Same, Hilarion

Taking a page out of Costis’s book?

You have definitely seen it before. (I mistook his lie for truth!)

Will Costis hear about this? (please)

249. #4 to Gen!

Pheris where are you

Why doesn’t the Continent want to conquer them (do I get partial credit for this)

A tattoo!

250. “Do not offend the gods”

Honestly … too bad Helen DIDN’T do this

251. he said he’d give all he had

I’m sure there are rules

253. Just men? :( (let everybody fight him!)

Ornon is back! I mean, of course he is

Also yea they practice

HELLO ORNON

A house being built … or one knocked down. Nice

Is Teleus in on this?

254. Pheris called him my king!

255. I wanna know which guards though

:( he’d been faking

Kicked him in the head (ouch)

256. “when he fell”

I … don’t like this

He never gives up. The thieves don’t have limits. They have flash points.

Stepped on his hand

“Enough Gen” – what Irene said?

257. :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

The magus. I forgot he was there.

The magus said … nevermind …

The magus is probs very into this as a cultural thing. Also he was talking to the MoW

Pigeon. The sky. :( Like in TT (OH BOY, THE SKYYYY)

If there was a god, Pheris would see…

258. They’ve, they’ve been through a lot.

Oh god what’s next

259. I … no. not in his arms to the palace.

The palace where….

The stairs…

They are all 3 lookers. Basilisks and brass and lead

I hate this. But I love this.

I will someday see this differently.

Ah yes… the grunt. Approval.

260. Honestly, this is so fucked up and heartwarming. These books.

Lol don’t defend Hilarion, we know him

Eddis visits him.

Attolia watches him.

261.WTF Gen. I knew it. Why.

Crying or laughing? Crying? :(

How does this not undermine her now that he is her king?

But … what he wouldn’t do for her.

262. “he did fine”

This book is like… Reasons Gen Says Sorry

So, so… - Helen

GEN!

263. I am right. I am always right. It’s a curse.

Helen :( :( :(

The amount of times these people have seen him beaten.

He’s like … self destructive, but in a way that gives himself more power. Which he hates.

Gen, let them in. Let them in.

Chapter 5

264. honeycomb

OH NO. is it happening?

266. I’m just supposed to accept this?!! What does it mean?!

267. … a my king moment … important

But like … now can he fight?

Caryatid? [doodle after I looked it up]

268. Teleus!

C’mon Teleus. Everyone you love or respect loves him!

Honestly Pheris and Teleus … not a duo I expected

THESE TWO ARE SO DEDICATED TO TELLING HIM THAT! Ok I should chill. At least he said “may.” These are like … Pheris’s life lessons.

Honestly… I love that Teleus likes poetry, or at least likes it for Relius.

269. Lol Legarus. It’s been years! I mean, I guess that was a big deal for him… (almost being executed is a big deal for most people.)

Does he not love Gen because of Relius? Because Gen manipulated him? Because he keeps sending away his successor? Why on earth not! Hop on that train! (...)

It’s interesting that their relationship is the one that touches Pheris, not Gen and Irene. Hm.

Also … “Idiot.” The parallels.

“relatively gently” (it’s so good)

~Teleus here to talk about love~

This book is full of surprises.

270. That is NOT the bright side, Gen (“I could use my newfound authority to insist on going into battle”)

271. BUNNY! Wtf is a wineglass warrior

Very cute everyone, good job.

Still sad about Helen’s tears.

271. Gen. Don’t say these things. [volcano doodle]

272. SEE I was worried about this! The doubt!

I am not ok

This is TOO MANY Eddisian Revelations (Lader time)

Yeah. Wow.

273. Cleon x5

I … his grandfather

No.

Baby Helen begging

How did Pheris get this scene

Gen chose Cleon for his plan

275. IRENE WITH THE STATS!

276. lol Gen

My brother Sounis!

277. Missing Relius club.

Where is he though

Yes! Sophos Gen food fight!

Grapes!

“Wisdom”

He’s “the king” here and in KoA bc that’s the story but also that’s who he is to Pheris and Costis

278. So how did that Irene and MoW meeting go anyway?

How does Aulus know???

Thief short story! Probably terrible to reread, oh no

279. Are … are Aulus and Boagus together???! (“his slightly smaller partner”)

This feels … potentially traumatic … but fun? Idk

Fleece

280. This dang book. No rules!

The chandelier! So dramatic!

Mwt had … a lot to put into this one. A lot. A lot.

283. “not the Thief he was chasing”

284. The queens! The salute!

He can’t give this up.

Official Worries:

100,000 soldiers heading towards Kamet

Re: Lyopidus, Gen called Sophos his brother. Helen apparently might BE his sister. Temenus and Stenides are also going to a war where 9/10 will probably die.

Also

the MoW could have been a king if he’d stolen Helen’s throne. A lot there.

why does this book have the vibe of the library post, my comic from 2010, the king and queen interactions here, and the military tactics dream

#part twooo #word clouds next #the queen's thief #return of the thief #mwt #rott spoilers #return of the thief spoilers #something i

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notbang · 5 years

Text

that cat’s something i can’t explain

read on ao3

“Rebecca,” Nathaniel says in surprise when he spots his girlfriend weaving through the Mountaintop lobby, flour-dusted apron and all, making a very determined beeline in his general direction. “What’s going on?”

As soon as he says the words, he expects her haughtiness—an affronted why can’t a humble pretzel maker visit her lawyer lover on the top floor, perhaps, or something equally colourful. The closer she gets, though, he can see she’s vibrating with something other than deliberately cloying indignation.

“What’s going on,” she says emphatically, dropping her phone on the front desk with enough force that its momentum slides it towards him, “is that if I had to be subjected to this monstrosity, then so you do you.”

He stops the phone before it can ricochet off the edge of the counter, eyebrows raised as he unlocks the screen.

“Now that we know a love of the theatrical arts is something which we both share—”

“Wouldn’t say ‘love’,” Nathaniel interjects.

“—we can have these very important cultural discussions together.”

He makes it approximately twenty seconds into the video before he turns it off.

This isn’t the first time he’s found himself completely miffed by one of Rebecca’s outbursts, but even in his bemusement it’d be disingenuous of him to paint it as one of her qualities he considers skewed towards the negative. There’s always been something so captivating in the way her feelings tend to command the entirety of her tiny frame, expressing endlessly outwards, always making her seem so much more than what she is.

Still, he’s at a loss for what to offer her in return for her obvious discontent, and he settles for stating the obvious, well aware she’ll hand him precisely the response she was looking for soon enough.

“Don’t see it?” he offers, tone tentative and polite.

Predictably, she scoffs at him, jabbing two accusing pointer fingers in his direction. “Ha. Don’t see it. I wasn’t planning on it, was I? But then they had to go and make it terrible, which is how they reel you in! And not just plain old terrible, either—it’s, like, the uncanny valley, haunt-your-dreams kind of terrible that cancels out how terrible the source material already is, because that’s how negative integers work, for some reason, and now it’s like this… furry train wreck I can’t look away from,” she finishes, gesticulating wildly and scrunching up her hands into frustrated little cat claws.

“Did Nathaniel finally admit he’s a furry?” Maya whispers with conspiratorial glee, popping up unannounced on Rebecca’s immediate left.

“Ugh, Maya, go away,” she groans.

“You don’t work here anymore—you can’t just boss people around,” Nathaniel says, before straightening his shoulders and adding pointedly, “Maya, go away. Please.”

Rebecca raises her eyebrows as the office assistant pushes her glasses up her nose, pouts and scampers away. She leans across the desk to give him a blatant up-and-down. “Wow, look at you—dolling out pleases like you’re Oprah or something. So cordial, yet commanding. It’s kind of sexy, in a Miss Manners kind of way.”

“Don’t you have a storefront you should be manning?”

“I’d be able to hear the fire alarm from here,” she defends, then pushes up on her tip-toes to plant a kiss on his right cheek. Nathaniel pauses in his photocopying, ears pinking, then reciprocates with a brief press of his open palm to the small of her back.

He clears his throat. “I’ll see you at lunch,” he calls after her, but he’s certain she doesn’t hear him, already having summoned Maya back, strangely intent on correcting her opinions on something involving, if he’s heard correctly, Taylor Swift.

When he makes his way down the hall back to her bedroom, still towelling his hair, there’s a message notification waiting on his phone from Rebecca.

“What is this?” he asks, waving his screen at her.

She doesn’t even glance up from the novel she’s reading, a stray lock of her hair looping around her finger in an absent spiral. He watches the movement for a moment, transfixed, until she disengages the curl to flick the page over and finally responds. “It’s Hermione after she messes up her Polyjuice potion in Chamber of Secrets. Obviously.”

“Okay.” Then, after a beat, “Why am I looking at it?”

“Because Paula doesn’t understand musicals or Harry Potter or memes, so it had to go to you by default.”

“Do you understand memes?”

“Plus,” she says, ignoring him, “you’re, like, romantically obligated to find every message I send you entertaining.”

He plugs his phone into charge before joining her on the bed, shuffling as high up on the pillows as he can manage to keep his toes from skimming the end of the mattress when he stretches out. It’s not entirely successful, but if he bends at the knees a little and curls on his side, he knows from past experience he can make it work.

“Am I, just. Even the ones composed entirely of emojis?”

She grins. “Especially the ones composed entirely of emojis.”

Rebecca ditches her paperback in favour of wriggling into his warmth, murmuring her contentment when he slips an arm around her waist to draw her close and drop a chaste kiss onto the crown of her head. Her hair’s still damp and smells vaguely floral, like her shampoo, and he lets his lips linger there, breathing her in.

His phone vibrates twice on the nightstand.

When pulls back to peer down his nose at her, she’s not-so-subtle in her attempt to conceal what she’s cradling innocently between their chests. He sighs, feigning exasperation. “You just sent me a cat emoji, didn’t you?”

“I absolutely did not,” she says solemnly, then, dissolving into laughter under his scrutiny, confesses, “It was more like five. And I think maybe a llama by mistake?”

“It’s like they didn’t even try,” Rebecca announces loudly in the vicinity of Nathaniel’s ear, rudely jerking him back from the precipice of sleep.

“Oh good,” he sighs, blinking his eyebrows higher up his forehead in the darkness. “This again.”

He grunts out his disapproval as the bedside lamp clicks back on, casting half the apartment in dramatic shadow as it burns his retinas with its unexpected blinding light.

“And I’m just saying,” Rebecca continues, oblivious or in the very least unconcerned with his state of obvious discomfort, apparently immune to any such adjustment period of her own, “did anyone consult TS Eliot before reinventing his heartfelt poetry as a vaginal yeast infection in musical form?”

Nathaniel’s nose wrinkles to match the pre-existing scrunch of his face. “What?”

“Never mind, it was a whole a thing. My point is, no film is an island unto itself. People signed off on this. Multiple people looked at those designs and said, you know what’s gonna add a layer of appeal to a musical that already has no plot? Stripping it of its one redeeming feature—AKA the crazy 80s hair—and replacing it with horrifying, humanoid heads that somehow manage to look furry and bald at the same time.”

Even if Nathaniel felt remotely qualified to comment on the topic—which, for the record, oddly flattered though he is at Rebecca’s pervasive belief that he might be, he decidedly is not—it’s late, it’s a weeknight, and he really just wants to sleep.

“If you hate it so much, rewrite it,” he says before pointedly rolling away from her with a yawn and yanking the covers up over his shoulders.

She follows him, flicking him hard in the back of the neck where his nape’s still exposed above the blanket. “Not cute, dude. You don’t get points for that one anymore. And you can’t ‘rewrite’ CGI. Even if you could, a thousand rewrites isn’t gonna change the eyesore that I—nay, humankind—have been subjected to.”

Nathaniel buries his face in the pillow and groans something that resembles her name before it gets jumbled in its muffled pass through the cotton.

“Rebecca,” he says once he’s resurfaced, trying again, tone still undeniably clipped as he scrubs a palm across his face. “I have a deposition first thing tomorrow. Do we really need to have this conversation now?”

She wilts visibly, chagrined, eyes flicking to the clock at his bedside that may as well have ABSURDLY LATE splashed across its interface in red LEDs. “Sorry,” she says meekly, officially rebuked, sinking back into the sheets and switching off the lamp.

The room is blissfully silent save for the collective electronic hum of his appliances, but despite the stillness, Nathaniel finds himself unable to drift back off. Without opening his eyes he pats around beside him until his fingers connect with the phone he’d known with every fibre of his being she was still holding, confiscating and discarding on his nightstand, out of reach.

“Go to sleep,” he admonishes.

“I was just—”

“Sleep,” he repeats, voice gruff with exhaustion, enfolding her firmly in his arms as a preventative measure, practically able to hear her calculating the device’s retrieval in the dark.

“What are we dealing with, here? Minor song lyric alteration? Beloved song exclusion? Reinforced misogyny? Racially insensitive miscast?”

Nathaniel startles at the sound of the door opening, Paula spilling into Rebecca’s house like she lives there and depositing her bags in the entryway with a dramatic thud.

Rebecca, by comparison, is unperturbed by the intrusion, swivelling on a breakfast stool to look at her friend and shake her head. “We’re not talking misdemeanours here, Paula. We’re talking big league. Like, DEFCON-5.”

“Oh,” Paula says. She clucks in feigned sympathy and shoots a knowing glance in Nathaniel’s direction. “This is about the singing cats, huh.”

Even focused as he is on rinsing out her blender, he doesn’t miss the way Rebecca shrinks guiltily away from him in his periphery.

“Did you call an early morning emergency meeting of your girl mob to discuss a movie trailer you didn’t like?” he asks, careful to keep his tone light.

“It’s gurl group, but you know that, and no—Valencia is in town for her sister’s birthday and Heather’s working at this Home Base today and Paula’s new job means she has to like, actually do work now, so breakfast is the only time all of us were free.”

As if on cue, Heather and Valencia sidle through the open doorway.

“Oh, he’s here?” Heather drawls with an exaggerated grimace when she spots Nathaniel. “Looks like you’ve already found someone to rant about your dumb movie to, so I’m gonna just—”

Her attempt to pivot on the spot and leave is thwarted by the arm Valencia loops through her own, catching her before she can re-cross the threshold.

Nathaniel wastes no time in whipping his head around to aim an aha look in Rebecca’s direction, and she’s just as quick to defend, “Yeah, okay, so it’s on the agenda. Amongst other things.”

“Is that so. Like what?”

“Like… topics I don’t know about yet because nobody ever responds to my requests to send me their items for the agenda.”

“God, no more agendas,” Paula grouches, reaching for a mug from the overhead cabinet. “Or meetings. My entire life is meetings and agendas and scheduling conflicts. Can’t we just have a good old fashioned rendezvous? I feel like nobody ever rendezvouses anymore.”

“Ooh, or how about a tryst,” Rebecca suggests, waggling her eyebrows.

“Girl, you know I love you,” Valencia says, “but I’m not trysting with you. I have a fiancée.”

Heather hums, drumming her fingers against the countertop as she hoists herself up onto a stool. “So full disclosure, Hector and I saw the Cats revival with his mom last year, and I liked it. I think the lack of plot worked in Hector’s favour.”

“There’s no accounting for taste,” Rebecca says, wistful.

“You liked The Lion King,” Nathaniel feels obligated to point out. “That’s technically about digitally rendered singing cats.”

“I tolerated The Lion King because of my deep fondness of the original and because I knew I could bully you into seeing it with me because of its zoological themes,” she corrects. “Anyway, that remake’s issue was that it had no soul. This remake’s issue is that it’s, like, demonically possessed, or something. Which, to be fair, cats, as a species, generally are.”

“Rebecca,” Valencia begins, voice all saccharine and scathing, “need I remind you of one of the many occasions you broke up with this one—” She jabs a thumb in Nathaniel’s face, making him frown. “—with the intention of adopting an entire shelter’s worth of felines?”

“That was a different time,” Rebecca dismisses. “I was punishing a version of myself I wasn’t proud of by resigning her to the fate I believed she deserved.”

Nathaniel tilts his head, bemused. “Huh?”

“Oh, she wanted to be a crazy cat lady,” Heather translates, enunciating loudly, “because she couldn’t bone you in the stationery closet without feeling bummed about it anymore. Just, like. While we’re on the subject of trysts.”

“Heath-er,” Rebecca hisses, kicking her ex-housemate in the shin.

Parsing their less than stellar communal romantic track record with a group of women all too happy to gang up on him afforded the slightest opportunity isn’t high on Nathaniel’s to-do list for the morning, and a flick of his wrist to check his smart watch is all the excuse he needs to make a timely escape.

“On that note,” Nathaniel says, snatching his car keys off the counter, “I’m going to leave you ladies be.”

The conversation barely dips as he sees himself out.

“So in between your being typecast as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, you didn’t happen to don, say, a unitard and leg warmers, did you?”

“What?”

He knows he should be used to this by now—this tendency towards unexpected tack-changing that he’d liken to a dog with a bone, if the cliche didn’t feel somewhat inapt, considering. It’s not like he’s unaccustomed, after all this this time, to Rebecca’s one track mind. It’s just that up until this point, most of the tracks she’s been fixated on treading have usually, admittedly, served his own interests as easily as her own.

“Just checking, because for the record, it’s kind of a massive deal breaker for me.”

She flops into his side, not entirely-unpleasantly sticky, or in the very least, skin virtually indistinguishable from the slick of his own. Rebecca’s ability to pick up intelligible conversation immediately post-coitus is a talent he does not share, and as the golden fog of afterglow suffuses through his bloodstream he takes his time meandering back towards the realm where articulation is possible, content in the knowledge his bedmate will happily barrel on without him until he catches up.

“Just kidding,” she seems to feel the need to clarify, even in the absence of any protest on his behalf. “The knowledge that you were a theatre kid is such an aphrodisiac to me that it well and truly trumps any potential feline faux pas.”

“Wasn’t a theatre kid,” he corrects, the response so automatic he’s not sure it counts as cognitive function.

“Agree to disagree,” Rebecca says, earning herself an exasperated sigh.

Once the drumbeat of his pulse has slowed in his ears, he cracks an eyelid, suspicious of the lack of movement and sudden cease in chatter from the woman sprawled out across his upper torso. Rebecca’s gazing up at him as if she’s been patiently awaiting his full attention, chin resting on her stacked hands, a lazy, satisfied smile stretched across her features.

“You know, for someone who claims to hate Cats,” Nathaniel tells her with amusement after stretching to peck her on the mouth, “you kind of talk about Cats a lot. Some might even describe you as off-puttingly passionate on the subject. Not me,” he backtracks at her incredulous glare, tucking her hair behind her ear with affection. “I find your aggressive diatribe charming.”

Suitably placated, she drops her head back down against his shoulder. “They do say there’s a fine line between love and hate.”

He skates his hand down the bare expanse of her back, letting it settle in the dip between her hips. She undulates with the caress, thighs parting and sliding to bracket one of his. If she’s gunning for a second round he’s still got his refractory period to contend with, but there’s always other ways to keep her occupied, his loose-limbed lack of focus notwithstanding.

She doesn’t push it any further, though, apparently content for now in her own come-down, and he’s just about to give in to the pull towards sleep when it occurs to him what he’s neglected to ask.

“Did you?”

Rebecca’s even breaths, which up until now have been fanning rhythmically across the damp of his throat, catch and falter enough that he takes note of their telling absence.

“Hmm? Did I what?” she deflects, and his eyes narrow at the way she doubles down on the suggestive patterns she seems intent on tracing across his pectorals.

Determined not to be swayed, he shifts beneath her, laughter rumbling through him and muscle mass quaking like tectonic plates beneath the surface of his skin. “Oh, you so did,” he grins, pleased to have been on the money with his flicker of suspicion, eager to bask, as always, in any correct insight he’s managed to garner into his girlfriend’s endlessly multi-faceted brain. “This whole time there’s been incriminating photos of you somewhere wearing tacky fake-fur and an unseemly wig. There’s no hiding your shameful history, now—the cat is out of the bag.”

Rebecca smacks him on the chest, unimpressed, and he can see every telltale corner of her mouth at which the scowl fails to conceal the twitches of her laughter. “So what if my vendetta is somewhat rooted in past trauma? It doesn’t change basic fact, which is that the mere existence of Cats—animal, musical or movie—is a plague against mankind. And for what it’s worth, I didn’t need the wig—my early adolescent frizz was unseemly enough all on its own.”

Where late-night exhaustion-fuelled irritation existed only a few evenings prior, Nathaniel finds himself suddenly capable of only overwhelming fondness. “I think you would have made a very fearsome cat,” he tells her seriously. “All feisty, and nimble.”

He takes two locks of her hair, twisting them up into faux-ears on the top of her head until she bats his hands away, failing miserably at stifling her giggles.

“Stop that. You’re one adjective away from me adding myself back into the Mountaintop text chain just so I can make Maya’s week.”

“Uh-huh. Because I’m the one between us whose levels of preoccupation are concerning.”

He rolls her beneath him, nuzzling his nose against hers in an exaggerated way he can tell irritates her to no end given the context, but muscle memory wins out and she melts into it, the frown lines easing from her forehead as she moulds her mouth against his.

It’s only a matter of time before she’s pressing insistently against him, appetite predictably reawakened, and every sordid pun he could torture her with right now tingles at the ready on the tip of his tongue. But then she sighs into him with a kind of giddiness that sends his mind shattering into static, and as he nips and noses his way down past her belly every teasing thought disintegrates into the ether as he touches her until she’s arching, unraveling, drawing out his name in what can only be described as a delighted purr.

#crazy ex girlfriend #rebecca x nathaniel #rebecca bunch #nathaniel plimpton #and a dash of #gurlgroup4evah #my fic #so this was meant to be a series of drabbles in an attempt to combat writer's block #and i feel like it's still a little stiff in parts but it's already way longer than it was supposed to be #(a victory i guess!)#and ultimately just a bit of silliness #alternate title: five times rebecca yelled about cats (2019) and nathaniel was confused about it #originally this was gonna be gen but sometimes when you just wanna WRITE you gotta indulge the id #ya feel?

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coneygoil · 5 years

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The Home We Built Together, part 15

Two young Vikings. An arranged marriage. Hiccup always wanted to win the girl of his dreams, but not like this. Now he and Astrid must learn to live together and maybe one day, learn to love…

Writer’s note: I didn't expect to have another chapter ready this quickly! It sorta just happened that way XD The pacing sometimes has to include filler chapters and this is another one, but it's full of fluff! The next chapter, things will start to get suspicious...

The Night Fury. He’d found the Night Fury! Hiccup couldn’t believe his eyes. There in the cove was the dragon he’d successfully shot down then unexpectedly released. He grabbed for his notebook to quickly sketch it. He didn’t think he’d get the opportunity to see the elusive dragon one more time. But after it’s erratic flying two days ago on top of Gobber’s comment about going in for the kill, he knew he had to find the dragon in hopes of getting answers to his many questions.

Hiccup wasn’t sure what he’d actually do if he encountered the Night Fury again. The dragon may not have mercy on him a second time, but that was a risk he was willing to take.

“Why don’t you just…fly away?”

Then it caught his eye. The missing tail fin.

Hiccup rubbed away the charcoal lines, leaving a smudged spot where the matching tail fin should have been. He watched as the Night Fury, frustrated and exhausted, tried to snap a meal from the crystal clear pond below, only to come up empty. It was hungry and trapped in a magnificent, lush prison.

The pencil slipped from his hand and tinkled down the edge of the cliff, drawing the dragon’s attention. Two sets of greens eyes made contact. The intense stare of the dragon softened just a tad as it tilted its head at Hiccup.

Hiccup’s racing heart slowed the longer he stared back at the dragon as if a silent curiosity stood between them. He couldn’t leave this dragon there to die of starvation, not after it spared his life.

He’d return.

***

As interesting as the Book of Dragons was, it was absolutely useless for any information regarding Night Furies. Hiccup slapped the book closed and tossed it on his desk with a dejected sigh. He fell back onto his pillow, arms folded over his eyes. Was he the first person to ever come in close contact with a Night Fury? Out of all the Vikings in their 300 years of residing, was he really the only one?

Footfalls echoed up the stairs and Astrid appeared in the doorway a moment later. “How was the book?”

Hiccup gave her a half-smile. “Interesting. I learned about species I’d only heard of in name.” Except for the Night Fury.

He’d wormed his way through half the book before suppertime then promptly stuck his nose back in the pages right after helping pick up the dishes for Astrid to clean. He hadn’t noticed the frown she’d worn as he disappeared into their bedroom. He’d missed their evening routine of hot drinks by the firepit.

Hiccup turned his head to watch from his sprawled position on the bed as Astrid made her way to the trunk to retrieve her nightgown. Facing the wall, she removed her shoulder guards and skirt. Hiccup released a shuttering breath as Astrid pulled her shirt over her head and unwound her bindings, leaving the creamy skin of her back exposed.

A part of Hiccup throbbed at the sight. He witnessed the expanse of her bare back several times since his accidental viewing, but Hiccup knew he’d never not be affected by the sight of her bare skin.

To Hiccup’s chagrin, Astrid tugged the nightgown over her head and pulled off her tights from underneath the fabric. She discarded her kranson onto the nightstand and began to undo her braid. She grabbed the brush, slapping it on Hiccup’s stomach. He winced at the none-too-gentle smack.

“Brush my hair,” she ordered, dropping down beside him. She gave her hair a dramatic swoosh that tickled across Hiccup’s face.

Hiccup sat up with brush in hand and a warm pit in his stomach. He’d never brushed her hair, let alone touched it before. He’d longed to comb his fingers through the fringe of her bands and tuck a long lock behind her ear. This was far more than he’d imagined.

The brush hovered at the crown of her head as Hiccup pondered this new ground in their relationship. Astrid glanced back over her shoulder, questioningly. That one look stimulated his limbs to move.

He tentatively sank the bristles into her blonde locks, the stroke settling the waves created by the daytime braid. There were a few tangles to work out. Astrid suggested using his fingers on the tangles, and Hiccup hoped his hand wasn’t trembling as his fingers combed the strands.

After a couple minutes, the brush freely ran through her hair and Hiccup thought that was it. “Keep going…please,” Astrid said, hesitantly.

Hiccup didn’t need to be told twice. He continued the slow strokes through her hair. Astrid’s head tilted to the side just slightly as a tiny moan drifted from her throat. It was clear that this was something she enjoyed, and Hiccup to took note. He was rather enjoying this new form of intimacy between them. Her hair was softer than what he’d assumed. The tips of his fingers sometimes skimmed her back unintentionally. He could do this every night if she’d allow him.

“Your notebook fell out your vest pocket,” Astrid broke the comfy silence that had blanketed them, “it was open to a sketch of a dragon I didn’t recognize.”

Hiccup’s hand suddenly froze on her cascading blonde locks.

Astrid twisted to face him. “What species is it?”

Hiccup wracked his brain. Should he spill the beans that he’d found the Night Fury? He could full out lie that the dragon had gotten away while he was fighting it, but that’d probably be even less believable than the truth of him setting it free. Either way, both scenarios would be shameful. “It’s my theory of what a Night Fury looks like. I pieced together different ideas of what it could look like. It’s fast and dives at incredible speed, so it’s body must be sleek and streamlined with the various fins to maneuver it.”

Astrid nodded. “That’s an impressive theory.”

Hiccup blew out his cheeks before sighing in relief. She believed his theory, which was actually the truth. “Thanks.”

Astrid scooted around, tucking her knees under her. Golden locks poured over her right shoulder. Her eyes pierced his like blue lightning, electrifying his blood. Her cheeks were tinged pink and her lips were oh-so-inviting. Her question just moments ago was forgotten as Hiccup’s longing to kiss his wife sent his mind whirling.

He leaned into her space, catching Astrid’s eyelids closing as his shut naturally. Tentatively, their lips brushed together as they became more familiar and comfortable with the feeling. The warmth radiating from her was incredible and he could have stayed there the rest of the evening bathing in it.

His lips were slightly chapped and as they parted for a brief second in their explorations, he slicked his tongue across his bottom lip accidentally catching Astrid’s bottom lip as well.

Hiccup kicked himself as Astrid withdrew out of reach. “Sorry, I didn’t do that on purpose.”

“It’s okay,” she reassured. The pink of her cheeks darkened. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”

The moment had passed. Hiccup’s tunic felt sweltering on him at the mistake. He didn’t know what to do. Should he try to initiate another kiss? Should he move on and start a chat? Or maybe go to bed and sleep off the embarrassment –

Thankfully, Astrid decided for him.

“Turn around.”

Hiccup’s brows drew together, questioningly. “Why?”

“Just do it,” Astrid ordered, twirling her finger.

Hiccup obliged. He wasn’t sure what Astrid had planned, and nearly jumped when she touched his hair, a sensation he was not used to. She smoothed her palms along his scalp, her digits catching a bundle of hair and pulling it to separate from the rest of the strands. She was hard at work at her task.

“What’re you doing back there?” Hiccup asked, twisting his neck to glance at her.

Astrid forced him to look forward again. “Braiding.”

“I don’t really want a braid.” Hiccup gave a little yelp when Astrid yanked on the braid she was forming. “But I could get used to it.”

Hiccup caught the sly smirk running across Astrid’s lips as she leaned into his peripheral vision. She tied off the braid then smoothed her fingertips feather-light down his back, causing a pleasant wave through Hiccup’s body.

Hiccup frowned at the loss of her touch as she scooted off the bed to finish her nighttime routine. He reached back and slid fingers down the braid to the end. There were many things he could get used to be close to her.

@martabm90 @chiefhiccstrid @lauracalabresi

#httyd fanfiction #hiccstrid #arranged marriage au #the home we built together

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awilliamswrites · 5 years

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11/11/11 Tag

Thank you @katherinescribbles for tagging me! My answers are really long, sorry!

1 Who is your favorite character in any work of fiction and why?

This is SUCH a hard one. Do you have any idea how many favorite characters I have?? I don’t! There are too many! For some reason, however, the very first character that came to my mind was Tiffany Aching, followed closely by Carrot Ironfounderson. Both belong to the Discworld universe written by the great Terry Pratchett. Tiffany Aching is smart, and brave, and powerful. She takes responsibility for her mistakes and she tries (and mostly succeeds) in doing the right thing even when it’s hard or boring or she doesn’t particularly like the people involved. I haven’t actually read the last book in her series, The Shephard’s Crown, so I don’t know how her journey ends. (At first it was too painful, I felt like if I read the last book Terry wrote it would be too final and I would have to accept that there weren’t going to be any more. For the past couple years I’ve been wanting to read it but just haven’t had the time or energy to make it to a library to find a copy.) Anyway, I look forward to one day reading it and finding out who she grows into and where she ends up. Carrot Ironfounderson is honest and upright and at first glance naïve. He’s also very clever. I’ve always loved that about his character because most people seem to take the cynical view that if you’re kind or honest or open that you must be stupid or doing yourself a disservice in some way, but Carrot’s kindness and honesty always works out for him and he’s shown to be very shrewd as well, showing that cleverness and goodness can exist in the same person. One of the things he believes that I’ve always remembered is “personal isn’t the same as important” which struck me as very different than how most people think and also profound.

2 Do you remember the first piece of writing you ever wrote? What was it?

I think the first “real” writing I did was write in the journal I got when I was … eight? I think? The first fiction writing I remember starting was about this girl who was either actually a fairy or a half fairy contacted by her people to stop an evil horde of monsters who were going to pour out of a mountain that she could see from her back yard. Or at least that was the idea, I think I wrote maybe a page of that before abandoning it. I was probably around 10 or so. I got frustrated because I couldn’t think of a reason the fairies would ask the protagonist for help specifically rather than just deal with the problem themselves. I’m honestly surprised I still remember so much about it.

3 If you could be any kind of fairytale creature, what would you be and why?

Hmm, depends on if I were stuck in that form or if I could shapeshift at will. If I could shapeshift then I’d love to be able to turn into any size dragon I wanted. If I had to choose a form to stay in forever then I’d definitely go with being an elf (LOTR movie-style elf of course).

4 What is your zodiac sign and MBTI?

Pisces and INFJ

5 How would you describe your writing style?

I just took a “who do you write like” quiz and apparently I write like Stephen King!? I’ve never read a Stephen King novel! (I don’t like horror).

If I had to describe it for myself I’d say that I like dialogue and describing what characters are thinking a lot, and focus on setting and action less than I want to/should.

Also, slowly, infrequently, and generally with little forethought (I’m more of a pantser than a planner, although I’m trying to change that.)

6 Come up with a 5 word prompt! What is it?

A fairy in the garden.

7 Where do you find most of your inspiration for your writing?

I tend to be drawn to fantasy a lot, so a lot of my inspiration or ideas for stories come from standard fantasy tropes. I think subconsciously I pull a lot of inspiration from other stories. I do it consciously some too, but try not to do that a ton, even if “great writers steal.”

I’ve always wanted to write a standard hero journey, "person leaves home town and becomes hero of kingdom” story, but I’ve haven’t worked on one in a long time because I know it’s been done a million times by much better writers. I get really frustrated and wish I could think of something new to bring to the table while still having the story recognizably fit that mold.

8 What was the last piece of fiction to make you feel an extreme emotional response over?

Avenger’s: Endgame. SPOILER ALERT. Next question bolded for ease of jumping your eyes to it. Skip to the next question if you haven’t watched it yet.

I bawled when Black Widow died. The weird thing was though that I wasn’t entirely certain why I was crying, or why I was crying so much, but something about her death made me cry so hard the first time I watched it that I missed everything from the shot of her on the ground to the shot of Clint hitting the water with his fist.

9 What’s your favorite trope?

Tough to choose one favorite, but I love it when characters get injured and are nursed back to health/cared for by their loved ones AND/OR their loved ones get really angry/protective and proceed to go destroy the thing that injured them.

10 Opinion on love triangles?

I generally hate ‘em. They’re always the same. Girl has to choose between nice guy or bad boy. It just seems stupid to me that any intelligent girl would think “this guy seems shady, I think I’ll get involved in his business and show way more interest in him than I should just because he’s handsome!” Whenever I encounter this trope it undoes my suspension of disbelief, I’m too aware that the relationships are manufactured for the drama and the story, and I can’t view them as “people I’m reading about” instead of “characters the author is manipulating for the sake of a plot”

I've probably read some that are well done and liked them, although I can’t think of any examples at the moment. In general though, especially in YA books which are the majority of what I’ve read, love triangles are just boring and frustrating.

11 Something you wish you’d see more in the stories you read?

Related to the above, more characters in YA books who act and think like real, intelligent people and not like stereotypes. Like, immaturity does not equal stupidity (stupid actions sometimes, sure, but still). It always frustrated me as a teen when I was reading about someone my own age (or older!) who were apparently dumber than me. (Like, not making bad decisions that included reasonable rational for the experience/information they had, but bad decisions that were made obviously because “the character needs to be stupid and to make this decision for the plot”)

These were excellent questions. Here are mine!

1 What is your favorite book or series and why?

2 What piece of writing are you most proud of and why? This could be anything, not just fiction writing; if you wrote a paper for school that thinking about still makes you feel good, I’d be curious to learn what it was!

3 Are you a planner or a pantser?

4 If you could live in the world any book series, which would it be? If your choice is different than your favorite from question 1, why is that?

5 Do you have a book that you love that most people you talk to tend not to have heard of? What is it?

6 Do you read/write fanfiction? What’s your favorite fandom to read/write in?

7 What time of day do you write best during? Morning? Midnight? Any time?

8 Have you ever done Nanowrimo? What was your project?

9 What is your opinion on poetry? Do you like it? Do you like modern poetry?

10 Choose your favorite question out of the 11 questions I answered and answer that one! (Indicate which one you’re answering too).

11 What was the last book you read?

asking @ofinkblotsandscript @writings-of-a-narwhal @nonchalantxfish @slothwrter @corisanna @ashesconstellation @azawrites @scribbles-to-feed-the-void @juls-writes @indievixen @sheabutterskyes (I’d love to hear your answers! When you answer please tag me so I can see!)

#tag game #writing #11/11/11 tag

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katiekat1321 · 5 years

Text

The Master and The God (part 9)

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9

A/N: In the Last Chapter... You met with a cosmic entity named Infinity who has asked you to help prevent a Universe changing event that is coming.

You walked up to Loki’s door, still wondering if your choice was right. Was it fair to Loki? Not really, I’m essentially a parasite feeding off his seidr now. But Infinity said this would make things better and I think it’s fair to assume a cosmic entity knows what she is talking about. You thought to yourself, then again, she could have just said that to manipulate me into agreeing. Infinity’s goal is to make sure the universe is safe; she probably would have said anything to get me to agree. Y/n, what have you gotten yourself into?

You heard one of the guards clear his throat and you realized you had been lost in thought in front Loki’s door for at least a few minutes. You smiled awkwardly and went to knock on the door but heard a something crash into the wall by the door. You jumped back a bit and looked at the guard, expecting him to rush in and see if everything was okay.

He just shrugged and said, “He’s been in a mood since you left. Yelling and breaking things.”

You nodded and knocked on the door. You could hear the soft thud of something being dropped to the floor and a cold “Enter,” from Loki.

Loki saw you peek around the door, a little scared of being hit by a projectile. He took a deep breath before greeting you, “Y/n?”

“I’m back,” you said as you walked in and set your cane down next to what was a dresser when you left, but now all the drawers were missing and broken, and the clothes were everywhere. “What happened in here? It looks like a tornado rip this place apart!”

Loki gave you a once over like he could tell something was different about you already. “It’s fine, just,” Loki paused for a minute. He tried look like he was searching for the right words, but you could feel the lie on the tip of his tongue before he said it, “a little, how do you say it on Midgard? Cabin fever?”

You nodded, that was probably not a lie. It was more of a half-truth. Loki was tired of being under house arrest and stuck in here, but that was not why he destroyed his room. You waved a hand around the room and everything repaired itself. “How about a little prison break then? Maybe a change of location will make continuing our earlier conversation a bit easier?” You offered.

Loki raised an eye brow but agreed nonetheless. He sat down in a chair and gestured for you to sit in the one facing him. You sat down in front of him and immediately allowed your astral form to be released from your physical form. You looked to Loki but knew he couldn’t see you. You put a hand on his cheek and watched him jump slightly in surprise before you moved your hand to his forehead and pushed his astral form out.

“Fancy meeting you here stranger,” you said before waving a hand over his body and floating towards the door and Loki followed. “Where shall we go? And just so you don’t think to try something I put a spell on you. If you leave the palace grounds, you’ll be shocked and forced back into your body. It’s not very comfortable. The Ancient One would use that on us in training.”

“The sun recently set, I know a of a small balcony off Odin’s private library that is great for viewing the night sky,” Loki offered. As soon as you nodded Loki headed off, leading you there. You breezed past countless empty rooms, up a few stairwells, and shelves of books in the library before reaching Odin’s private collection of books. You saw Loki go out the glass doors leading to the balcony, but one section of books caught your eye. You stopped to read the spines of the books and translated the runes. They were about Midgard’s history.

You pulled the first one off the shelf, flipped it open, and saw a picture of Master Agamotto. The caption under it explained that he was a master of magic known as the mystic arts and taught many disciples. It also noted that he was entrusted with the time stone and placed it in the necklace he is often pictured wearing.

You stared at the picture of Master Agamotto and tried to work through that this all meant. Odin had kept Earth’s history of the Mystic Arts existence a secret from the people of Asgard. He himself knew the history and it seemed Frigga did as well but destroyed all other books on the subject. That was some extreme censorship. Is it to make Asgardians feel stronger? You wondered, I want to believe Odin is a good person, was it to protect us from something? But from what?

You were lost in thought, trying to figure out what Odin’s intentions were when you heard Loki right behind you. “Y/n, what are you looking at?”

You slammed the book shut and put it back on the shelf, hoping that didn’t make enough noise to raise suspicion that someone had snuck into the library. Before you could make up a response Loki continued speaking, “It’s not actually a blank book you know. It only appears that way to people less powerful than Odin. Mother once told me only she and Odin could read any of these books.”

“Oh, um,” You weren’t sure how to reply to that, but if you wanted Loki to be truthful to you about everything leading up to the Battle of New York you should be truthful to him too. “They’re supposed to be blank? I was looking at a picture of the Agamotto, the founder of the Masters of the Mystic Arts.”

“You can actually read it?” Loki asked incredulously.

You nodded, worried you had messed up again today and this would only upset him more. His eyes lit up a little as he pulled another thin book off the shelf at random, opened it to page, and held it out to you, “What does this say?”

You leaned in a little closer and translated the first paragraph. “Something about Dark Elves and the Ether returning one day.”

Loki closed the book and looked confused as he read the spine again. “This book is supposed to be about the final battle of Bor and the Dark Elves. We were taught that Bor killed every last one of the Dark Elves and destroyed the Ether on Svartalfheim.”

You took the book from Loki and put it back on the shelf from where he had grabbed it. “It seems that Odin has censored your history and kept the real records hidden away in this private collection.”

“Why?” Loki asked quietly. You knew the question wasn’t directed to you, you expected Loki didn’t realize he even said it out loud. It was more of an internal pondering.

“I think I know why actually, but I need to talk to Frigga more about it before I say anything more.” You replied and turned towards the door to the balcony, “Let’s just go outside and talk. The fresh air will do you good.” Loki agreed without protest and followed you outside.

Loki sat on the stone railing, legs dangling over the edge. You followed suit, sitting with a small gap between the two of you. “I still don’t know where to start.” Loki said softly.

“You can start wherever you want to. I wasn’t here when any of this happened so tell me your side of the story. I’m not sitting here with a negative image of you already.” You told him.

Loki scoffed, “How can you not have a negative image of me? I helped an army of aliens attack your planet in exchange for the promise of being named its king!”

You placed and hand on his. Loki’s eyes widened and he glanced at you in his peripheral. “I am not holding that against you. I never did. I’ve spent all my time at Kamar-Taj studying Asgard. I know your past and I know what Midgardian Norse Mythology says of you. I also know Frigga speaks of you with so much love and that she still has faith that you will do great things. Your mistakes don’t have to define you. I want to help you Loki.”

“Okay, I’ll being where I think everything started to fall apart, the day that Thor was supposed to be crowned king,” Loki said, turning toward you slightly, “I felt that Thor was not suited for the throne. He was too foolhardy and just wanted to fight and win glory. He didn’t really care about the people’s well-being. I didn’t feel it was fair for Odin to dismiss my claims to the throne so blatantly so I allowed a diversion to prevent the coronation from proceeding. I snuck a message out to Jotunheim and told them to send a couple warriors to reclaim the Casket of Ancient Winters. I hated the Jotuns, and I still do, but they were the easiest of Asgard’s enemies to trick. They were desperate and never fully recovered after they were cut off from the rest of the realms so I knew they would be willing to accept an anonyms message offering to help them; I knew they wouldn’t succeed and the Destroyer would kill them. I planned this all as a harmless trick to stop the coronation, to ensure that the date would get pushed back and I would have more time to talk to Odin and convince him Thor wasn’t worthy of the throne. Then Thor decided to go to Jotunheim to fight them. I admit I might have supported the idea, but I didn’t think Thor would be so quick to agree. I told a guard where we were going and to send Father after us after we left so that Thor would be punished and we would end up dead.”

You made a small sound of surprise, but Loki noticed and paused his story. He looked to you and asked what happened. “It’s nothing, you just finally called Odin your father.”

Loki looked away and you were worried he was going to stop talking and close up again but to your surprise he started speaking again, “Anyway, I was touched by one of the Jotuns and turned blue rather than getting frost burn so I knew something was wrong, after Thor was banished I spoke to Odin about it and that’s when he told me that I was not his son, but would have been the crown prince of the creatures I grew up being taught to hate.”

“That would be enough to fuck anyone up,” you commented.

Loki seemed amused by your response, “Your Midgardian simplicity refreshing as always Lady Y/n.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” you questioned.

“Nothing negative, darling,” Loki defended himself, “The brashness of your replies is quite amusing. It’s so unapologetically honest. It’s very different from most people here and rather endearing,” you blushed in response so Loki changed the subject, “anyway after that Odin fell into an Odinsleep and being the only heir left on Asgard, I became the acting King. I wanted to finish the Jotuns off like they should have been hundreds of years ago, but now, looking back on my emotions, I realize that I was also wanting to erase my true past. I wanted to cut any and all ties I could have to them so I formulated a plan to sabotage them and elevate myself to the strong hero status Thor held. For my plan to work I knew I would need to keep Thor away on Midgard so I lied to him, telling him father died and though I was king, he would have to remain banished. Then I went to Laufey, claiming I wanted to betray Asgard, but as you know it was just a ploy to kill him, which was obviously successful,” Loki’s words trailed off.

“And then Thor returned,” you offered.

This seemed to refocus Loki’s mind, “Yes, Thor returned and stopped me from fully destroying Jotunheim by destroying the Bifrost and I fell from the bridge. Odin could have saved me, but he didn’t, and I fell to my doom.”

You could hear his throat tightening as he neared the end of his sentence so you tried to urge him to continue, “And then what happened?”

“It’s getting rather late isn’t it?” Loki said, ignoring your question entirely, “I think we should turn in for the night and continue this conversation another day.”

You knew what Loki was trying to do, he was trying to get out of continuing this conversation. He only shared what you already knew, but you appreciated the fact that he was willing to open up, even this much. “That’s okay, we can continue tomorrow. Thank you, Loki,” you said and held a hand up to his face, making him disappear and rejoin his physical form back in his room. Before you returned to your body as well you took one last glance at the shelves in Odin’s private library. How much else has he hidden? Everything about the Masters, everything about Hela, and apparently the truth about whatever happened between King Bor and the Dark Elves.

You were torn between confronting Odin directly about all this or just privately sneaking back in at some point and reading through more of the books. There was nothing you could do at the moment anyway so you returned to your body in Loki’s room.

“I’ll be back early tomorrow Loki,” you told him as you stood up, stretched, and cracked your neck. “I know this is difficult for you. It must not be easy to relive whatever happened to you, I can see the pain in your eyes.”

Loki refused to meet your eyes. “What happened to you out there, Lady Y/n?” He asked.

“What do you mean?” You asked in response.

“What did Heimdall summon you for?” Loki clarified. He watched your smile falter and knew he needed to press the topic further, “You’re stronger. I can feel your Seidr burning and the energy in you,” Loki placed a hand over the center of your chest, “I can feel it coursing through your veins.”

“It seems I’ll have some explaining to do tomorrow as well,” you agreed and removed his hand from your chest, but instead of releasing it, you held it for a moment in both of your hands. “But you’re going first.”

Loki’s eyes crinkled into a smile as he agreed. “Goodnight darling,” he said simply and walked away from you towards his bed.

“Goodnight my Prince,” you quipped back as you walked to the door, holding out a hand and your cane soaring into it. You could feel the mirth radiating from Loki at that comment as you left his room and headed to your own.

As you made the short walk back to your room you thought about what your next step should be. I obviously need to hear the rest of Loki’s story first, you thought. Then it’s a toss up between returning to Earth to begin the tasks of making sure these twins are properly enhanced and everything is on the path it should be or stay on Asgard a bit longer before that and figure out why Odin has been lying to his people.

It was moments like this that you wish you had the Eye of Agamotto to see what different futures held. Though even without the ability to see the future you knew fate would pull you down whichever path is more pressing.

You were so distracted by your own thoughts you didn’t even notice Thor until you actually ran into him.

“Lady Y/n?” He said as he steadied you, “What are you doing wandering the castle at this hour?”

“I’ll admit I have no idea what time it is, but I’m sure it isn’t that late Thor,” you said with a kind smile, “sorry, I should have been paying more attention to where I was going.”

“What is on your mind?” Thor asked. He really was like a human, or rather Asgardian, golden retriever; all blonde, friendly, and kind.

“I had an interesting meeting with… a friend of your mothers earlier this evening and I’ve only just finished speaking with your brother. I’ve learned a lot tonight and I’m not sure what to do next honestly. I’m not even sure if I should be telling you this much,” you confessed. Just saying that much to another person was relieving some of the metaphorical pressure you felt on your shoulders.

“I didn’t know mother had a friend visiting her,” Thor replied.

“It was just a quick visit. I’m guessing she was in the area so she thought she’d just pop in,” you lied.

“Well if it’s about Loki then I can talk to him,” Thor offered, “I’m well aware you can handle yourself Lady Y/n, but I’m happy to help you however I can.”

You reached up on your tiptoes to ruffle his hair a bit, “You’re very sweet Thor. But Loki has been nothing but a gentleman to me. Honestly! You must know your brother well enough to recognize that he is not a bad person. Misguided maybe, but not evil.”

Thor flattened his hair and sighed. “I’m not sure what to think of him anymore. He’s changed so much from when we were kids.”

“Well of course, everyone changes as they grow and learn life lessons. I believe one dashing blond god-man recently learned that fighting isn’t always the best answer, especially for a king.”

“You are very wise for a Midgardian,” Thor murmured. You raised an eyebrow at his comment and he quickly realized what he said came out wrong. “I meant that you have the wisdom of someone who has lived hundreds of years, Lady Y/n”

“Of course, you did,” you joked. “Well, I should be getting to bed. Loki still has a lot more to explain tomorrow and I have a feeling I will need a lot of energy to get it all out of him.” You were about to walk away when you thought of something. “Actually, maybe you talking to Loki would help. But not quite yet, he still needs more time. Goodnight Thor”

Thor bid you goodnight as you continued down the hall to your door. As soon as you reached your bed you collapsed onto it, the day’s mental strain finally catching up with you.

**If you would like to be added to the tag list for this fic send me an ask!

Tag List: @missaphrodite23 @sidemenaremylife @casuallyobsessivewitchcraft @alfoos @fiftyshadesofriri @dammitkatt @awkwardnesshabitat @fiery-feyre @serrure-ikol @bone-ankle-tree @shysaladewriter

Part 10 -->

#loki x reader #loki x plus size reader #Loki Laufeyson #loki fanfic #loki odinson #loki imagine #reader insert #loki x you #Loki #avengers imagine

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allofeos · 6 years

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First of all, apologies for the long post!

Annoyances with continuity between Chapter 9, Episode Ignis map layout, and overall content disparity.

It’s really jarring when you realize that Prompto and Gladio could’ve easily jumped the debris in the canal to check on Ignis. More-so when you get the loading screen of them in-game across the canal from where the DLC begins.

I circled where the loading screen is (the one saying “Here!”) and jotted out where each major event in Episode Ignis is at. The difference in the altar architecture is frustrating too.

Nothing in the progression makes sense, his costume too for an example. Ignis’ costume was originally only his glasses off, thanks to PS4 save editing users. This was modified in the update in January/February. I’ll go over this again at the end.

That’s without factoring in the in-game time progression too: Chapter 9:

• Noctis at the palace: 10 am / 1000hrs. • Lunafreya cutscene, then Prompto shows up: 1pm / 1300hrs.

• Noctis tries asking Leviathan for her power, gets dumped onto the streets: 2pm / 1400hrs.

• Lunafreya is stabbed by Ardyn, Noctis powered up and hits the altar: 4pm / 1600hrs.

Episode Ignis:

• Ignis is dumped out in the canal through to arriving at the altar: 5pm / 1700hrs.

• Ignis fights Ardyn: 7pm / 1900hrs.

It’s a giant circle, there is no point to gathering the files and it’s a cop-out in the narrative for this and the party splitting up in the area. It literally takes a short bit in the game itself, to get to the bridge, and get across the canal where Ignis was knocked down to.

The insult for injury was after the all but completely irrelevant files (the file for Caligo is pretty bloody close to his Ultimania page!) for Ignis and Ravus, was that NEITHER of them got even a loading screen that did not provide information as a summary of events.

All of the loading screens featuring Ignis and Ravus within the DLC are ALL summaries of the three chapters, and the action for V2. V2, which managed to also rip off Lunafreya as well? We don’t even have mention of Caligo’s actions against Lunafreya within the Dawn trailer, but apparently Jared Hester’s demise is important enough to make a fuss about in Episode Ignis? Surely, there’s a mistake here, given that Jared Hester is in service to the Amicitia line?

Whilst I can agree that Gladio was ripped off in his own DLC, in contrast to Ignis we have more connections for Gladio, and know more of his personal life and family overall. We literally know fuck all about Ignis beyond him being assigned to work at the age of six.

Brotherhood didn’t even cover what it was supposed to for Ignis!

Tabata: Brotherhood: FFXV is a series of ten-minute animations, with five episodes currently planned, that shed light on how Noctis and his pals ended up traveling together. Normally you’d start an RPG by gathering a party. But in FFXV your allies are with you from the beginning. By illustrating how they came together

Ignis isn’t even brought up in another interview on Brotherhood prior to his episode.

Akio Ôfuji: It also helps show that the backgrounds of the characters in there, there are social standings as it were, so for exemple in the 3rd exemple that we just released we can see Gladio’s house, you can compare that to where Prompto lives.

Prompto’s house is actually quite small whereas Gladio lives in a big mansion. So this show that his family is a lot richer, Prompto’s parents they need to work very hard, they both work to support him and they aren’t particularly wealthy. So you can see the different social classes there.

In fact, Ignis’ little shoebox of an apartment isn’t even featured in the Film Collections Box artbook. The Amicitia mansion is, Prompto’s house is, Noctis’ apartment is, Lunafreya’s quarters within Fenestala Manor is as well. (I’m not even touching on the fact that there’s nothing regarding Ravus in the Lunafreya end of Brotherhood, especially given the Reddit Dataminer dug out that they apparently cut a mention of Ravus out of a flashback too in-game).

We don’t learn anything about Ignis beyond his duties in Brotherhood, Episode Ignis despite it being his DLC. We don’t even learn anything about Ravus in Episode Ignis for that matter either.

The only personal tidbits we’ve learnt is that he has an uncle that is an attendant in Parting Ways. Even Ignis’ typical dossier doesn’t give us anything out of the normal. The Official Works expanded on it slightly (Ignis being akin to a family member), and in the aforementioned datamine there was a difference in Ignis’ profile which is pointless if they went with his family being advisers or stewards. Why? Because they never give us any information in regard to Ignis’ family whatsoever beyond the off-hand, barely there nod at his apparent uncle in Parting Ways. We never have any sort of notion of his uncle doing anything of the sort beyond relaying whether or not Regis will be permitting an audience with anyone. This means that whatever role written in his dossier is pointless with this lack of information.

With the new content for Comrades, Royal Edition we have absolutely no development whatsoever about Ignis being in his stated role of royal adviser, tactician, senior adviser to the crown, hand of the king and so-on. Gladio has stepped up into Clarus’ role, Prompto is leading the people, Cor is leading the Kingsglaive now, and Ignis is apparently alive, despite his sacrifice... but cooking I guess? Ignis doesn’t even get a little speech from The Mystic in his part of the Kings of Yore/Knights of the Round battle in the new Chapter 14 content. Gladio, Prompto are apparently attractive, but according to the Hero Highlights, Ignis is impressive for trying! That’s seriously it? Are you fucking kidding me? Really?

The same thing happens in regards to the NPCs talking about the guys, Cor and even Ravus being attractive, but the only off-hand comment that isn’t in regards to Ignis cooking is about him having an expensive notebook and questioning if he’s a spy in the no longer available Assassin’s Festival.

There is no backstory for Ignis, there is no real progression and/or development beyond the blindness and choosing to continue onward. Episode Ignis didn’t show us anything beyond loyalty, brotherhood, cooking, and memes about cooking. All of which we’ve known from the beginning and is in no way, shape or form expanding upon his character.

I am completely on factoring in the content alone (not for fandom-related content), because I do not find nothing but loyalty to be a good basis, particularly given the reasoning in the Official Works is a “secret plan” with no reasoning for it. There’s even a really interesting thought experiment that I think is quite worth a read!

This is also whilst completely remembering comments that were transcribed by multiple fans attending the 30th Anniversary fan event earlier in the year, the ones specifically about Ignis being difficult to write in contrast to Gladio and Prompto. They gave Ignis more screentime in Chapter 1, of which tend to be a cause of complaints from users being annoyed at being interrupted for certain underlevelled tutorial handling, and game-over mechanic prevention with preventing players from driving below level 30.

If we also tally the sidequests and tours off the top of my head: Ignis:

• Cooking tour.

• Missing spectacles tour.

• The only possible sidequest to miss in the base/unpatched game, requires you to be in Chapter 3 and at the Chocobo Ranch to pick it up via NPCs talking, and isn’t possible to complete (see the Disc of Cauthess) due to plot limitations. The quest isn’t even ended by Ignis, but rather Prompto and Gladio talking. Ignis has no comment about it!

• The only new addition is the cutscene after Titan, following the Royal/Windows Editions in March this year.

Gladio:

• Running tour.

• Fishing tour.

• Flowers for Iris tour.

• Cup Noodle quest.

• Scene with Titan.

Prompto:

• Photography tours x3.

• Photo ops.

• Photo op quest in Insomnia.

• Additional scenes at the motel with Noctis.

The main point of likely progression following the events of Chapter 9 is only brought up once in Chapter 14. It isn’t even discussed in Comrades: Departure, in contrast to Talcott.

Ignis? Apparently just pops into existence when Noctis is 5 (or 3 when one considers the repeated timeline error in the Ultimania, recently republished in the Official Works despite being amended within the official in-game dossier), and cooks.

In contrast for the DLC, we didn’t know about the connection between Gladio and Cor with Clarus not being around particularly much within the game. For that matter as well, we didn’t know how Prompto ended up within Insomnia despite his origins either.

However, both tidbits from Gladio, and Prompto’s episodes about the first scar and heritage were actually mentioned in the Piggyback Final Fantasy XV Limited Edition guidebook (ISBN: 1908172983 / 9781908172983). There’s only a bit about Ignis’ duties, and how his hairstyle, glasses were styled as without anything really covering his DLC.

Honestly put, the general feeling seems to be fuck me for wanting to know about Ignis, Ravus in general and have some actual content balance out of a four-man party instead of the current disparity. That goes for all of the bros, just when you tally the actual information up it’s quite clear that Ignis is incredibly lacking.

It’s terrible that with this feeling, that the addition of Ignis with his hair down feels as though it is to make it seem as though there’s a content disparity in Ignis’ favour, when both he and Gladio were all but ripped off with their unlockable costumes.

However, unlike Episode Ignis, Episode Gladio had a unique area, unique bosses. Episode Prompto had a unique area, bosses, a costume for him and Aranea. Ignis didn’t get a unique area, new bosses, new costume beyond glasses which are not exclusive to his DLC as they have been included within Comrades in contrast to the others. The only new boss was Ravus, and Ardyn’s content is no longer exclusive as it has been utilized to rebalance the main game fight for Ardyn.

Ignis didn’t even get a new weapon model in contrast to the other two. According to the Reddit datamine, he did have different daggers originally, but why this was scrapped no one knows.

On the overall, Episode Ignis doesn’t fulfill the initial marketing for it:

And this is on the overall why it fails in multiple ways for covering Ignis properly within his own DLC.

#a: 100% Pure Galdin Sea Salt #Apologies for the long post.#I mean it. An actually long fucking post.#I haven't even hit the end of this

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obstinaterixatrix · 5 years

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2018 Fic Retrospective

it’s that time of year again! the end of it. all in all it’s been about 15 fics and about 40k, so like? that’s a pretty decent amount I think.

1/25

The Intricate Art of the Spite Selfie (or, Say What You Mean), Voltron, 3.5k words

The first selfie Lance takes with Keith, the first selfie Keith takes with Lance, and a few of Lance's many, many selfies that follow.

this was posted on my 9 year anniversary of the first time I posted fic, but it was actually written a solid while before? and scenes were drafted even longer before that? technically an old fic but w/e

3/28

Page Turner, or, Why Shoujo Manga isn't a Valid Point of Reference, Persona 5, 12k words

Yusuke comes to Makoto for love advice. Futaba intervenes.

this was technically started in 2017, but finished in 2018 so it’s for the 2018 retrospective. it’s also like. the crown jewel of fics this year In My Humble Opinion. I’m so happy with this fic, it’s pure self-indulgence. my extensive experience with shoujo manga finally came in handy. I also get like. really irked when an f/f ship is tagged and it’s like... .001% of the fic so I wanted both my Big Persona Ships but I. Needed to focus on mako/haru. they deserve it.

4/7

follow the warmth of the sun, Persona 5, 2k words

Ryuji asks Haru for advice, then offers some of his own.

companion to page turner... still feel :/ abt the title but I honestly truly couldn’t think of anything else.

writing haru’s always really hard but something that’s nice and canon is how soft everyone is around her. also liz pointed out that page turner and this one basically start out the same and I. didn’t realize. I didn’t notice at all. I was tunnel vision on characterization I didn’t think about parallels at all,

4/13

ask a question, get an answer, Persona 5, 1k words

Hindsight is 20/20, but Ryuji feels pretty effin' dense for missing this.

I love foxskull. originally this fic was planned to be like. three times longer but then I realized I could condense it into a one scene oneshot. who cares about setup... foxskull time

4/21

shoot the messenger (at your peril), Persona 5, 2k words

Yusuke refuses to let Ryuji play the martyr.

[Rewrite of Ryuji's 8th rank]

okay I said page turner was the crown jewel of fic but this is also the crown jewel of fic because it’s really good alright it’s fantastic. sister helped me make the text segment because this was when my laptop died but such a trifiling obstacle can’t hope to get in the way of my foxskull agenda (this is hubris do not take it to heart). seriously though I’m a fan of my own vibe. slow-burning fury rooted in genuine concern... thats my brand and I am catering to my own tastes

4/26

at your side, as your side, Kamen Rider W, 700 words

Philip apologizes. At least, he tries to.

you’re welcome jem

5/10

Live and Learn, Steven Universe, 700 words

A conversation about mistakes.

lapidot lol. I love writing peridot... she’s such a disaster dumbass but a genuinely good and kind character trying to learn from her past mistakes... also lapis’ song killed me... I... wamt to see how their reunion goes...

5/15

Inertia, Persona 4, 700 words

It's not an ending, just a change.

I’m adding this in the retrospective even though the majority of this was written like. four years ago. technically I also ‘finished’ vector sum and the dr fics but like. I’m not. including those. they’re so old,

6/17

it’s not nostalgia if there’s nothing to miss, Persona 5, 1.7k words

Ryuji and Yusuke talk about the kind of shenanigans they got into as kids: eating paint and flaming dodgeball.

legit the only time air was like ‘you could add conflict’ and I was like. no.

I really liked writing dumb kid shenanigans... one of my friends once said how her sister tricked her into thinking color was a recent invention and that photos were black and white because colors hadn’t been dug up yet. while drafting I kind of kept that in as a placeholder for yusuke’s dumb kid thing, but thankfully I hit on the idea of. eating watercolors for art. what a yusuke thing to do. also I’ve said this before but flaming dodge ball was literally something that a friend did when they were a kid and I’m honestly kind of sad I never got to do something so ridiculously dumb and dangerous. is it really childhood without the threat of self-inflicted immolation?

7/28

the shortest distance between two points, Voltron, 7k words

Just when Keith thought he had his relationship with Lance all figured out, finally, Lance marches in and not-so casually declares his undying love.

(Or, his extremely small barely-there crush, but knowing Lance, same difference)

despite all my various feelings about voltron the show now that it’s over. I have to say. my voltron content is good content. You Can’t Change My Mind.

keith’s always a little harder to write than lance, but I really like... writing lance from an outside perspective. ‘this makes total sense,’ lance thinks, digging his own grave. ‘what the hell is he doing,’ everyone else thinks, as they get a front row seat to lance digging his own grave. also also I really like writing miscommunications that are like. fun.

9/18

accounting for taste, or, the unfortunate specter of middle school sensibilities, Persona 5, 1.5k words

Ryuji gives Yusuke an old necklace neither of them like.

99% of the foxskull I write is directly appealing to my own sensibilities and basking in my egregious self-indulgence because otherwise I’d be dying in the desert. this fic... is good.

10/1

star-crossed ain't the right word for it, Persona 5, 1k words

A handful of texts between Ann and Shiho.

this was a little tough to figure out at first— air def helped w the trajectory of the third chapter. but... I’ve always wanted to write more fun shenanigans with these two... and I’ve had the last chapter planned since the very beginning... I love ann/shiho...

11/11

Forward Momentum, Kamen Rider Drive, 2k words

After Chase comes back, Gou takes him to an amusement park. Then a movie. Then a cafe.

while watching the series I was like... ooo chase/gou has potential but the only thing that’s really selling me is the death scene so there’s not much I can do here... then... I listened to the drama cd... yall the drama cd... I’ve Been Pandered To... I really like writing Chase’s awkward perspective, also, I really like Chase.

11/16

coda, The Adventure Zone, 700 words

Sloane and Hurley rally people for the final battle.

(epilogue for Fortune's Wheel, Reversed)

this was a draft for a pretty long while but I really did need to give them something that reflected their current canon end. I like tragic romance but I like it *more* when it actually ends happily thanks griffin.

12/27

variety, spice, and however that saying goes, Persona 5, 4k

Rewrite of 6/11-6/12; instead of staying at Leblanc, Yusuke stays at Ryuji’s place.

a while ago jack was talking abt his headcanons for ex-sukeban mom sakamoto and ever since then I’ve been like... wow I want to write that. I think this actually has some of the best yusuke I’ve ever written just because I had to spend a paragraph describing a wine glass. also I have to admit, when I thought up the symbolism thing, I was very much. Oh I Am So Genius.

#fic retrospective #my writing #long post

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mfackenthal · 6 years

Text

MFackenthal: A Week in Reviews

Welcome all to the first ever “MFackenthal: A Week in Reviews” - the post where I list everything I have read this week and provide a short description to entice you to read them too. This is where we learn that I spend too much time on tumblr. As this is my first post like this – if you have suggestions for how I should do this post in the future – please let me know. I consider this blog always to be a “work in progress” and I welcome ideas for how best to organize things so to be better for you my dear readers!

What follows is a list of the fics I reviewed this week. Quick note: This list does not include headcanon posts, ABC posts or any post that wasn’t directly related to a story or storyline. This also only includes reblogs and not work I “liked” but wasn’t able to provide commentary on.

This means that if you want to find out what I specifically thought about each chapter, that can be found on my blog. To more easily search my blog, search the phrase “mfackenthal reviews ________” and fill in the blank with the blog name. IE “mfackenthal reviews maxattack-powell” to find the work I reblogged specifically by @maxattack-powell.

In case it’s not obvious: I recommend ALL of these fics and ALL of these authors. I cannot say enough about the fabulousness that is these authors.

The list is organized by love interest.

If the “read more” works then you’ll find the full list under the cut.

Maxwell:

1. Maxwell gets an education – MC can thank Adelaide later …

Wild Thoughts by @pbchoicesobsessed

Liam:

2. Does Liam even know what love is? Catch up with me – I think parts 7 and maybe even 8 are out now. I’ll be reading those this week for sure!

You Have Never Loved Me Part 4 by @kawairinrin

You Have Never Loved Me Part 5 by @kawairinrin

You Have Never Loved Me Part 6 by @kawairinrin

3. When a couple isn’t on the same page about children … when does separate pages turn into different books altogether? When mistakes are made how do we come back from that? I cannot wait to see where this series goes next!

An Heir (Part 16) by @viktoriapetit

An Heir (Part 18) by @viktoriapetit

An Heir (Part 19) by @viktoriapetit

An Heir (Part 20) by @viktoriapetit

4. Honestly – I live and breathe for this series! I am currently so pissed at Liam.

TSS: Part 35 by @choicesfanatic86

TSS: Part 36 by @choicesfanatic86

TSS: Part 37 (1/2) by @choicesfanatic86

TSS: Part 37 (2/2) by @choicesfanatic86

5. If I’m pissed at Liam in the TSS series, I am head-over-heals in love with him in this series. If this was the Liam of the books, Drake would not stand a chance.

If only: Chapter 9 by @choicesfanatic86

If Only: Chapter 10 by @choicesfanatic86

6. This story is about Liam and MC, but damn if I didn’t fall in love with Drake in this one.

Terrible Love – Chapter 15 by @confessionsofabrokegirl

Terrible Love – Epilogue by @confessionsofabrokegirl

7. The conversation you didn’t know you needed MC to have with Liam. It’s so beautiful!

Wait by @mrswalkerwrites

8. If MC is gonna be the mistress – she should have some fun – and she does! It’s not all fun though ...

The King’s Mistress by @captainkingliam

The King’s Mistress – The Duchy – Pt. 3 by @captainkingliam

9. All the Scandals that the King gets to see …

Arrangements by @hellospunkiebrewster

10. I’m still mourning the loss of the corgi. This story in three parts is sad, it’s angsty, it’s going to set us up for so much more drama.

When Three Became Two by @laniquelove

When They Give Up by @laniquelove

When They’ve Had Enough by @laniquelove

11. Husband and wife swap lives. Let’s just say she does a better job at being him than the reverse. A very humorous read.

Freaky Friday – Part 1 by @xxrainbowprincessxx

Freaky Friday – Part 2 by @xxrainbowprincessxx

12. If you haven’t started this series yet, it’s time to do so. Then start whining for more with me! Find out what happens with MC leaves, Liam is hurt, Olivia gets a little too much power, and Cordonia moves towards democratization ...

We the People Ch. 6 – A Dinner Party by @captainkingliam

Drake:

13. I am absolutely in love with this series. In the AU, everyone is working at an elementary school. I need more ASAP @larryssunflower!

TRR AU – Teachers (part three) by @larryssunflower

14. It’s built into the title – this is Everything You Ever Wanted. It’s funny. It’s creative. Read it.

Secrets – Part 12 of “Everything You Ever Wanted” by @lizeboredom

Foreign Affairs – Part 13 of “Everything You Ever Wanted” by @lizeboredom

14. This is another series that I live and breathe for. Catch up and learn one more reason why I hate Constantine!

Queen of My Heart – Chapter 19 by @walkerismychoice

Queen of My Heart – Chapter 20 by @walkerismychoice

15. I live for the snarky teasing that Drake provides as written by @tmarie82.

Fireside Games (Part 1) by @tmarie82

16. Did I mention that I love Drake and snark? Drake gets the last word in this fic …

Idle Threats by @lizeboredom

17. An AU where Drake met MC first and while he was in college … I can’t wait to see where this goes!

Bonfire by @traeumerinwitzhelden

18. When Drake is fluffy my heart melts.

3 AM by @drakewalkerwhipped

19. A Poly story where Savannah is less than supportive.

Ours Forever by @bobasheebaby

Conflict by @bobasheebaby

The Blow Up by @bobasheebaby

Bastien:

20. A slow burn that is anything but slow. Check this series out and you may never see Bastien quite the same way again …

More Than This – Part Seven by @honeylightningambition

More Than This – Part Eight by @honeylightningambition

Leo:

21. Liam and Leo fall for the same girl ... so far only one of them has admitted it ... Catch up on this series and cheer Leo on with me.

Duties of a Prince – Chapter 17 by @theroyalweisme

22. Catch up on this series and help me decide if I want the father to be Liam or Leo …

The Waterfall, part 7 of The Other Brother Series by @captainkingliam

The Test, part 8 of The Other Brother Series by @captainkingliam

Original Characters:

23. Okay – if I had to choose a favorite of the week – this would be my favorite. Of course, this piece was written for me and makes me character in the world of A Prince of the Sea as written by @captainkingliam. This references the only fic I have ever written and may be the only fic I ever write. (We’ll see.) I still claim what I wrote was more support than fic. You can read it here: The Case of the Maligned Prince. Luca sends me my favorite flowers. I love you, @captainkingliam!

The Case of the Maligned Prince – Luca Tribute by @captainkingliam

24. I love Luca! This is the series about Luca. I’m the president of a fanclub about Luca and his siblings. Obviously, I’m invested in this story and think you should be too. In case you don’t know, Luca is the oldest son of Riley and Liam and this story is about his social season.

A Prince of the Sea – Chapter 9 by @captainkingliam

A Prince of the Sea – Chapter 10 by @captainkingliam

A Prince of the Sea – Chapter 11 by @captainkingliam

Damien:

25. I know these were listed about but it’s a crossover. So I’ll simply repeat what I said above: It’s built into the title – this is Everything You Ever Wanted. It’s funny. It’s creative. Read it.

Secrets – Part 12 of “Everything you Ever Wanted” by @lizeboredom

Foreign Affairs – Part 13 by @lizeboredom

26. Damien gets played by MC. Win win really.

Tell Me You’re Mine by @mrsnazario1223

27. Romantic comedy meets realism in this beautiful fic.

The Moment by @mrswalkerwrites

Chris:

28. When MC feels guilty for spending time with Nathan …

Wake Me From This Nightmare by @darley1101

29. If you love Chris and haven’t yet found the better more thorough recount of The Freshman as written by @maxattack-powell, then today is your day! This chapter highlights the way Chris and MC support each other. I love it. You’ll also get just a little time with another OC who I love: Ethan.

The Freshman 2-8a: The Hospital by @maxattack-powell

30. Chris struggles with the “no strings attached” line he has given MC …

Caught During the Storm: Part 3 … Out Came the Sun … by @emerald-bijou

Seth:

31. When one Minah is mad at Seth … he finds comfort with a different Minah.

Lucky by @lizeboredom

Kenna x Val

32. Chapter 2 of 23 about the Queens of Stormholt. I’m a bit behind on reviewing this work, but I think we’re up to chapter 9. I’ll be reviewing this week, if I can. Catch up with me. If you read The Crown and The Flame – or even if you didn’t. It’s time for us to revisit it through this series.

The Queens of Stormholt: Chapter 2 by @kennaxval

note: Another big thanks to @drivenbyfantasy for creating the graphic. She and many others (notably: @maxattack-powell, @captainkingliam, @theroyalweisme, @trianiasti, @queencatherynerhys, @tmarie82, and @lizeboredom) helped me think through what this post would look like each week. Thank you to all of you for your help and to any of you who read this!

One final note: I reblogged 56 fics this week.

Yes, I have a problem. No, I don’t (yet) want help.

Last, but not least, on the off chance that I missed a fic that you know I reblogged, my apologies! It was unintentional and is not a reflection on you, but upon my inability to maintain my own blog. Also, if a link or a tag doesn’t work - I am sorry! My excuse: 56 links.

#mfackenthal reviews #mfackenthal's a week in reviews #this is where my life was this week #I should have been reading a book for book club #sorry not sorry #my addiction is real

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thelonelybrilliance · 6 years

Text

Ranking “reputation”

1. Getaway Car

(UM THE WHOLE SONG)

You were drivin' the getaway car We were flyin', but we'd never get far Don't pretend it's such a mystery Think about the place where you first met me We're ridin' in a getaway car There were sirens in the beat of your heart Shoulda know I'd be the first to leave Think about the place where you first met me

That was the last time you ever saw me

I was flyin' in a getaway car I was cryin' in a getaway car I was dyin' in a getaway car Said goodbye in a getaway car

2. Call it What You Want

(Again, the whole song)

They took the crown but it’s alright.

And I know I make the same mistakes every time / bridges burn / I never learn / at least I did one thing right ... starry eyes sparking up my darkest night

My baby’s fly like a jetstream / high above the whole scene / loves me like I’m brand new

so call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to

you don’t need to save me / but would you run away with me?

3. New Year’s Day

don’t read the last page... but I stay

hold onto the memories and they will hold onto you / and I will hold onto you

please don’t ever become a stranger / whose laugh I could recognize anywhere

4. Dancing With Our Hands Tied

I loved you in spite of Deep fears that the world would divide us So, baby, can we dance Oh, through an avalanche? And say, say that we got it I'm a mess, but I'm the mess that you wanted Oh, 'cause it's gravity Oh, keeping you with me

5. Gorgeous

Whisky on ice / sunset and vine

You’ve ruined my life / by not being mine

6. ...Ready for It

He can be my jailor / Burton to this Taylor

7. Don’t Blame Me

I would fall from grace / Just to touch your face If you walk away / I'd beg you on my knees to stay

8. I Did Something Bad

You got to leave / before you get left

9. King of My Heart

Your love is a secret I'm hoping, dreaming, dying to keep

10. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

and here’s to you / ‘cause forgiveness is a nice thing to do (*cackles*)

11. Delicate

You must like me for me (and the way she says “isn’t it”)

12. Dress

Even in my worst lies / you saw the truth in me

13. End Game

I don't wanna miss you like the other girls do / I don't wanna hurt you

14. Look What You Made Me Do

But I got smarter I got harder in the nick of time / Honey I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time

15. So It Goes...

wear you like a necklace...

#reputation #my rankings #ranked #taylor swift #i'm sorry but so it goes doesn't even sound like a real song to me #it's like a parody of a taylor song and it sounds offkey #ALSO GETAWAY CAR IS EVERYTHING

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fanatic-writers · 7 years

Text

The List (Part One)

A/n: OH MY GOODNESS I AM SO SORRY! This ended up being very personal (tbh it should just be called Why G has anxiety) all italics are flashbacks. Also, this is written differently than the other fics I’ve written, so I hope you like it! -G

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Warnings: Mentions of self-hate, anxiety, swearing?

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It was strange, going through her things without her there. He would've asked permission but he couldn't. She'd been gone for a month or so, and the god hated to admit it but he missed her, and he needed something to remind him of her. So he started going through some boxes in their shared closet. After finding an old report card, Loki figured that he was digging through the girls old school books. Pulling out a few notebooks he leafed through the pages of old writing. Stories she wrote as a child and something about a land for zebras to live happily. The god chuckled when he found an old photo of her on, what appeared to be, her first day of school. Her hands gripped the straps of her bag tightly, and she was giving the camera a large, toothy smile.

He continued to flip through the notebooks finding that the stories began to gain more depth and the writing became neater. He examined the girl's notes in history and the comments she made on her teacher.

“This unit would be so much better if we actually got to learn about mythology" he read “not like Mr. V would know shit about that either the only thing he knows about Vikings is the football team.”

Loki smiled again, he somehow always forgot that she enjoyed the bedtime stories told about him.

He continued to smile as he read on about the horrible Mr. V and how this man somehow made her hate history class more than math. Her hatred for her teacher became more apparent as there were fewer notes and more doodles covering the lined paper. His smile didn't fade until he flipped through a few empty pages finding one that was full among them.

“Things That Bother Me” he read. Her handwriting had matured again, and it was as if he was reading a poem she'd written him yesterday.

The way I look

The god was confused, the two of them had been dating for about a month. He figured that was a miracle on its own, but she seemed to be growing distant.

“Is everything alright?” he asked her one night

“Yeah,” she shrugged “everything is fine. Why?”

“You just seem,” Loki paused looking for the right words “different,”

Her face grew pale, and she looked down at her lap “I'm alright,” she stated

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” he asked

“I dunno,” she sighed “I just, why me?” “What do you mean why you?” the trickster questioned

“Why did you choose me?” you asked “There are far better-looking women in the world and you picked me,”

“Darling, the way I see it, you are the most beautiful woman on this planet,” he assured her

“Thanks,” she smiled weakly

Loki sighed “Who made you think you weren’t beautiful.”

She shrugged again “I dunno, me I guess,”

“Well you are unbelievable,” he said, “and you have the best ass in all the nine realms.”

She chuckled “I knew you were only here for my butt,”

“That amongst other things,” the god’s eyes darkened

“Do tell,” she smirked

Loki’s mind raced with the memories of that night. Thinking back it was the first time she’d opened up to him, the first time her anxiety had leaked through the shield she put up around herself.

2. I’m talentless

Loki frowned, how could she think she was talentless? She had done so many amazing things.

The trickster peered over her shoulder trying to see what was drawn out on the pad in front of her. It looked like a bunch of shapes to him, but she’d gone through several papers.

“What are you doing?” he asked sitting next to her on the sofa

“Nothing,” she replied making wild movements with her hand on the paper

“What are these?” he questioned uncrumpling the papers next to him

“Aren’t you just full of questions?” she said taking the papers from him

“I’m just curious,” he responded sneaking a piece of paper away and hastily unfolding it “that’s me,”

“It’s not good,” she said

“It’s amazing,” he responded

She narrowed her eyes “I’ve seen better,”

“Well, I like it,” Loki confessed, “maybe I’ll show Thor?”

“You wouldn’t dare,” she said “not that one,”

“There are others?” he questioned

“What do you think I’m working on right now?” she said

It took a few hours, but that was the last paper she used that night. A day or so later Loki saw her sitting on the sofa with a blank page in front of her.

“Did you finish the last one?” he asked

“Kinda,” she said “I don’t really like it,”

“Do you ever?” he questioned taking the pad from her and flipping to the picture. It was one of the best drawings he’d seen. It was as if he was staring at a picture she’d taken

“What don’t you like?” he asked

“The shading is all wrong” she responded

“I see,” he replied carefully removing the picture from the pad

“What are you doing?” she questioned taking the pad away from him

“I’m taking this,” he stated, “I look like a king.”

“That’s the point,” she smiled “you really like it?”

“The only thing it’s missing is a crown,” Loki commented

“Gimme,” she replied taking the drawing from him and doodling something on it. When she handed it back, the god noticed a small crown floating above his head.

“Much better” he smirked

3. I think things that aren’t true

He found her curled in a ball in her closet, tears stained her cheeks. The god didn't know what to do, should he comfort her? Should he leave her? Maybe she just needed to be alone, or maybe she needed someone there but couldn't ask. He didn't enter the closet, but he sat down in the doorway if she needed someone she had someone, but if she didn't the girl could easily ignore him. He noticed her sobs begin to quiet, like she was holding her breath, trying to hide.

“It’s just me,” he called softly

Her breath hitched, and he could see her curl tighter in the closet.

“Do you want me to come in?” Loki asked

“N-no” she muttered “yes…”

The god frowned and crawled into the closet and pulled the girl into his arms. He didn't ask her anything he just held her if she needed to talk he was there but if she didn't want to, there was no pressure.

“Y-you weren't supposed to see this,” she paused “see this me.”

“It’s alright love,” he assured “I understand,”

“I'm sorry,” she cried

“For what?” the god asked pulling her closer

“For- for not telling you,” her breathing became more sporadic “for not being, being who you thought I was”

“Darling it's alright,” he said calmly “I promise, just breathe ok?”

She nodded trying to calm herself and breathe with him. That night she fell asleep in his arms, they both slept in the closet.

4. I'm not a nice person

Loki looked at the words, again and again, he could actually understand this one, sort of. Y/n did have a tendency to snap at people or be sassy, and sometimes she was rude, but she always had a reason. Generally, if you didn't piss her off, she was kind and usually caring.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” she scowled

“Don’t what?” Tony asked

“Don’t act like you’re better than him,” she said, “don’t act like you haven’t made your fair share of mistakes.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t try to kill an entire race or take over the world,” he retorted

“But your robot child did,” she countered

“He’s not my child, and Bruce helped too,” Tony stated

“Bro,” Bruce said looking up from his papers

“He didn’t want to help,” she replied “besides Ultron was your idea,”

“Well I’m not inherently evil like him,” Tony said

You groaned “He is not inherently evil, I figured you’d understand him, try to at least get along with him but no.”

“Why should I?” he asked

“Because he’s going to be living here and you can’t just ignore him, and you can’t be a dick to him,” you answered

“Aww,” he pouted “don’t want me to hurt his ego?” “No, I don’t want to hurt yours,” the girl glared

“Sweetheart,” Tony started before Bruce cut him off

“Bad idea man” he called from his desk

“I thought you weren’t getting involved” Tony called back

“As much fun as it is to watch her kick your ass I don’t want to clean it up again,” Bruce replied

“Just try to be nice to him,” she said

“Fine,” he paused “but if he’s an ass.”

“You’re going to be the better person,” you finished for him and walked out.

Loki may not have been the argument, but Thor had told him to go to you if he had issues with everyone and he soon learned the story. He didn’t understand exactly why you stood up for him without knowing him yet, but he had to admit it was a nice change.

5. I have no friends

That was a blatant lie, in fact, she was out with her friends now. Not just her friends her family. Loki wanted to delve into this list a bit further, use it as a way to help. That was if he could help if she wanted his help. But as he was about to read the next item on the page her voice rang through the air. She wasn't due back for another day, the mission must've been easier than they thought.

“Loki?” She asked he rushed to shove the notebook back where he found it and pull out a photo album knowing he wouldn't have enough time to put away the box.

“I didn't know you looked this cute as a baby?” he said as she walked through the door her cheeks flushed red

“What are you doing,” she asked

The god merely shrugged putting the photo album back along with the box it came from.

“You were gone an awfully long time, darling,” he said

“Aww, you missed me” she teased

“I did not” he stated

“Did too” she sang walking out of the room “how about we fix that with a movie?”

“As you wish” Loki called getting up from his spot in the closet

“Just for that we’re watching The Princess Bride” she smiled.

It was hard for Loki to believe that she couldlook and seem this happy after what he had just read. He figgured that after reading eb=ven just part of the note he’d see all the things he missed before but she hid it so well. No wonder no one knew what was really going on in the girls mind.

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A/n: I hope you guys liked it! Part 2 should b out next week? I am so sorry it took me so long! -G

#loki x reader #loki #loki laufeyson x reader #Loki Laufeyson #loki laufeyson fanfic #loki fanfiction

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